July 16, 2014 — The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Government Affairs team headed back to Washington, DC, to advocate to Congress in support of H.R. 4930, the ACE Kids Act. The proposed federal legislation aims to create nationally-designated children’s hospital networks to manage care for children with medically-complex conditions who are insured by Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The bill also strives to reduce costs and improve quality of care through optimization and efficiency measures. 

The Government Affairs delegation was composed of Stephanie Pratico, a parent, advocate and employee of CHOP’s Trisomy 21 Program; Katie Piwnica-Worms, MD; Joe Kiernan; and Peter Grollman, hospital vice president.

The group met with legislative assistants from the offices of numerous U.S. representatives from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA), U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA), U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA), U.S. Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ).

The goal of the meetings was to show CHOP's support for the ACE Kids Act, which has already endorsed by the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA). 

It was a productive day on the Hill, and CHOP Government Affairs is pleased to announce that U.S. Rep. Fattah decided to co-sponsor the ACE Kids Act. We are hopeful that more representatives will also commit their support to the bill. The bill, which is the outcome of policy work led by CHOP CEO Steven M. Altschuler, MD, and other children’s hospitals’ CEOs, strives to reduce costs and improve quality of care. 

For more information on the initiative, please visit the CHA website.