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Live from California! The final regional forum on health care

Posted by: Ella Hushagen on Apr 08, 2009

Today I represented Families USA in Los Angeles, California at the last regional forum of the White House health reform series. Consumers, health care providers, policy wonks, lawmakers, and business leaders convened to discuss problems in our current health care system and priorities for reform.

Moderators California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire, and Melody Barnes of the White House fielded tough questions from participants from all over the west coast, such as this question from Reynaldo Hernandez, a former insurance broker in San Diego:

I knew I had a right to education. And if I got in trouble with the law I had a right to defense. Why don't I have a right to have health care?

Another California consumer, Avonnet Peeler, accumulated approximately $800,000 in medical bills when her husband's insurance company refused to pay for his leukemia treatment.

The governors agreed that universal health coverage is essential at this juncture. According to Gregoire,

Every governor -- Republican or Democrat -- would tell you it's not only a moral imperative, it is an economic imperative.

Schwarzenegger said,

The American system of healthcare is falling far short of its mission -- leaving millions of our fellow citizens in poor health and with inadequate care or no care at all.

There was much discussion of prevention and wellness as critical components of reining in health care costs and ensuring access to all. Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Health Access California, emphasized the crucial role of consumers in the debate, pointing out that, in effect, consumers are the point of health care reform.

At the end of the forum, Melody Barnes reminded us that the White House plans to accomplish health reform this year, which means that Congress has until the fall to get a bill on President Obama's desk. She asked all of us to go back into our communities and keep the conversation going.