Ascension CEO Ascension CEO Anthony Tersigni is planning to meet this week with President-elect Donald Trump's transition team to give input on healthcare reform.
As head of the nation's largest not-for-profit hospital company, Tersigni has used his visibility to advocate for access to affordable care, including restating his position last week in a Modern Healthcare opinion piece.
“While it is clear that major changes are going to be made to the Affordable Care Act, Congress will have an opportunity to reset the debate to one that is more bipartisan in nature. But we must not take our eye off the ultimate goal: to ensure that every American has access to quality, affordable healthcare,” Tersigni wrote.
An Ascension spokesman confirmed Monday that Tersigni would be meeting with Trump's transition team. But he did not provide details of the timing or participants.
Trump vowed to repeal the ACA as one of his first priorities upon taking office next month. He selected Georgia Representative Dr. Tom Price, a vocal opponent of Obamacare, as his incoming HHS secretary.
Catholic-sponsored Ascension, with 137 hospitals and annual revenue of about $20.5 billion, has as its stated mission the care of the underprivileged and most vulnerable members of society.
In May, St. Louis-based Ascension addressed skyrocketing out-of-pocket costs to patients by waiving the deductibles or unpaid bills for any patient earning below 250% of the federal poverty level at any of its facilities across 24 states.
