Follow-up on Health Care

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

In December, a blizzard put the kabosh on our scheduled healthcare discussion, but here's the result of the discussions that took place across the country --

Dear Friend,

In December 2008, President Obama’s transition team invited Americans to host and participate in Health Care Community Discussions to talk about how to reform health care in America. You are receiving this e-mail because you were one of the over 9,000 Americans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that signed up during the holiday season to host a Health Care Community Discussion. Thank you for bringing together your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers to discuss health care reform. The response from communities across the country was overwhelming – over 30,000 Americans participated in a discussion group in their neighborhood.

Members of President Obama’s health team and a group of volunteers read each of the 3,276 discussion reports submitted to the transition team’s website, and your suggestions were communicated to the President in “Americans Speak on Health Reform: Report on Health Care Community Discussions.” You can read the full report delivered to the President HERE. Also, you can read a sample of the community discussion reports submitted from across the country on www.HealthReform.gov.

Two weeks ago, the President brought together lawmakers, insurance industry executives, physicians, and a group of everyday Americans who like you hosted community discussions around the country to the White House to begin gearing up for the health care reform effort. Building on the forum held at the White House, five cities across the country are hosting White House Regional Forums on Health Reform. Governors are partnering with White House officials at the regional forums to solicit input from Americans across the ideological spectrum on how to reform our health care system. Today, you can watch the regional forum in Greensboro, North Carolina live on www.HealthReform.gov beginning at 10:30 ET. You can view pictures and watch videos from the previous health care forums that have taken place across the country HERE.

If you want to hear what President Obama and his administration are saying about health care reform or to submit a question for one of the upcoming regional forums, visit www.HealthReform.gov.

Thanks again for your involvement in this important cause.

Jenny Backus
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services