Public Policy & Advocacy
Policy Priorities
We leverage the strength of nearly 300 health and human services organizations to inform policy issues critical to children, older adults, families, people with disabilities, veterans, and others experiencing need in the United States.
Our current policy priorities are:
Medicaid: Strengthen & Protect
- Here We Stand. For People. For Care. For Medicaid.
- Aligning Health and Social Services to Improve Outcomes
- Rural Health
Workforce
Advancing Housing and Health
View the bills we support in service of our legislative priorities.
Policy Priorities
We leverage the strength of nearly 300 health and human services organizations through advocacy on public policy issues critical to children, older adults, families, people with disabilities, veterans, and others experiencing need in the United States.
Our current policy priorities are:
View the bills we support in service of our legislative priorities.
TAKE ACTION WITH US
Share your opinions with Congress through our action alerts.
KEY ACTION ALERT: Urge your lawmakers to oppose any further cuts and caps to Medicaid and other human services programs. Congress is considering another round of potential cuts to health-related programs in a third “budget reconciliation” package. Join us in continuing to urge Congress to protect funding for children and families, people with disabilities and older adults.
Key Issues
SNF Minimum Staffing Rule Struck Down:
In April 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule to create new minimum staffing requirements for skilled nursing facilities, including a requirement for 3.48 hours per resident day (HPRD) of total direct nursing care to residents and a requirement to have an RN onsite 24/7, with no funding for implementation.
On April 7, 2025, a federal judge ruled that CMS exceeded their authority and that their regulatory action was not consistent with Congress’s legislation governing nursing homes. Lutheran Services in America will continue to ask Congress to permanently block the staffing mandate through legislation, given that the uniform adoption of such unfunded minimum staffing requirements will result in reduced access to long-term care for older adults in rural and underserved communities as providers continue to struggle to fill staffing vacancies.
Learn more about our efforts to address this issue:
Identify Your Congressional Lawmakers
MEMBER MAP & STATE FACT SHEETS
We developed an interactive national member organization map along with fact sheets for every state, which our members and partners can leverage to illustrate the strength of our network.
Recent Policy and Advocacy Communications
We send letters to government officials and Members of Congress highlighting support for our concerns about actions and legislation, as well as submit comments on rules and regulations proposed by federal agencies and the impact they would have on our network member organizations and the people for whom they care.
Get timely updates on what’s going on with Lutheran Services in America and our nationwide network of member organizations.
Connect with us:
- Sue Pechilio Polis, Vice President, Public Relations and Government Affairs: Spolis@lutheranservices.org
- Sarah Dobson, Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy sdobson@lutheranservices.org
- Bill Kallestad, Senior Director, Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Disability Network bkallestad@lutheranservice.org
- Kylie Bowlds, Issue Education and External Relations Associate, Kbowlds@lutheranservices.org