Obama praises Catholic health care

President Barack Obama addressed the 100th anniversary meeting of the Catholic Health Association (CHA) on Tuesday, telling the hospital administrators that the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare “is now part of the fabric of how we care for one another”, writes Michael Sean Winters.

The US bishops’ conference originally opposed the Obamacare legislation while the CHA supported it. CHA represents 600 Catholic hospitals and 1,400 long-term care and other health care providers nationwide.

The tone of Mr Obama’s long address was triumphal: “So five years in, what we are talking about it is no longer just a law. It’s no longer just a theory. This isn’t even just about the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare. There is a reality that people day to day are experiencing. Their lives are better.”

He particularly commended CHA President Sr Carol Keehan. “Her dedication to doing God’s work here on Earth, her commitment to serving ‘the least of these’ ... have been an inspiration to me. We would not have gotten the act done had it not been for her.”