'We need a healthcare policy in this country. We don't have one. We have a healthcare financing policy'.

Ascension, the nation's largest Catholic healthcare system with 125 hospitals, 7,000 employed physicians and multiple health-related enterprises, has in recent years taken a number of steps to reduce the financial burden for low-income people when they access the healthcare system. Modern Healthcare editor Merrill Goozner recently asked CEO Anthony Tersigni about some of those moves and other major issues affecting the sprawling system's operations. This is an edited transcript.