More from the Health Care Town Hall Meetings
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Yesterday, members of Congress met in town hall sessions with constituents who were on Capitol Hill to rally and demand health care reform. Here are a few reports that came in after the meetings.
At the Health Care Providers Town Hall
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean got a zinger in at opponents who are claiming a public health care option plan would lead to “socialized medicine.”
You know who has socialized medicine in this country? Everyone over 65 and everybody in Congress.
Retirees Lobby Congress on Health Care Reform
For Betty Smith, today is the day she gets to teach a new group of students: lawmakers from her home state of Pennsylvania. A retired teacher and AFT member from Elkins Park, Pa., near Philadelphia, Smith is one of the nearly 550 retirees at the Alliance for Retired Americans‘ annual legislative conference, who traveled to Capitol Hill today to lobby their home state elected officials in advance of key votes on health care reform.
While she has retirement security because of her union contract, Smith says she knows there are millions of seniors who must choose between paying for prescription medications and buying food.
It’s not fair in this country, which is so rich, that something like this exists. It’s just wrong.
Retirees Set to Tell Lawmakers: Health Care Reform Now
For three hours before the formal opening of their annual legislative conference today, members of the Alliance for Retired Americans got down to business by taking part in workshops on health care reform and Social Security. They will be joined by speakers such as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
Throughout the June 15-18 conference in Washington, D.C., delegates and many high-level officials and union leaders will discuss the best solutions to the nation’s health care crisis and develop strategies to protect and strengthen Social Security.
In her opening address, Alliance President Barbara Easterling said seniors are in a unique position to influence the debate on health care. It is important for seniors to define the health care issue for Congress and the American people, Easterling said.
