The White House is reaching out to supportive denominations to promote the health law. Where Americans ignore their president’s sermonizing on Obamacare, the thinking goes, they’ll listen to their pastors, preachers, rabbis and imams. Federal health officials have blanketed southern, mainline congregations with literature, hosted online Obamacare seminars for faith groups, attended religious conferences and tutored missionaries on particulars of the complex law. Supporters hope millions will decide, perhaps with a spiritual nudge, to enroll in insurance exchanges or expanded Medicaid programs when the sign-up season starts on Oct. 1. They’re modeling the push on similar efforts during the rollouts of the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Medicare prescription drug benefit. “Medicaid expansion is part of what people of faith consider to be respecting the worth and dignity of human beings,” said the Rev. Susan McCann, rector of the Grace Episcopal Church in Liberty, Mo. — deep in a state that is largely hostile territory for the health law. “We believe in the worth and dignity of all human beings as created in the image of God.” About 17,000 “faith and community groups” have participated in White House-sponsored webinars on Obamacare, and community leaders — including religious figures — are on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stakeholder list to receive updates on the law’s rollout. CMS regional offices have delivered mailings to 500 churches in the Nashville area, with similar efforts planned for late summer. The agency’s Atlanta office has worked with women’s missionary groups to disseminate information. The Philadelphia office recently visited a conference of Baptist ministers and has offered “brief presentations” during the morning announcements at local congregations, Bible study sessions and church-sponsored health fairs. politico/story/2013/08/obamacare-faith-leaders-95851.html?ml=tb
Posted on: Sun, 25 Aug 2013 22:45:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015