Yakima-area legislators to hold health care town hall
Solutions at state level to be discussed
Responding to numerous citizen rallies and the national health care reform debate, state legislators from the 13th, 14th and 15th legislative districts will hold their own health care discussion, Tuesday, Sept. 22. The town hall will take place at the Yakima Convention Center, Room C, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, who is the ranking Republican on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee, will brief attendees on solutions he introduced in the 2009 legislative session that would reduce the cost of, and increase access to, quality health care. Citizens will have an opportunity to express their views and ask questions of their local legislators, Reps. Charles Ross, Norm Johnson, Bill Hinkle and David Taylor. The Republican legislators have solutions they believe can reduce costs and increase access to affordable health insurance.
“The plan we support is not about government intervention, but government separation from matters that should be left between a doctor and a patient,” said Ross, R-Naches. “We saw this year what happened when the state did not have the revenue to fund the thousands on the state's Basic Health Plan. Prices were increased and the ones who needed health insurance the most were forced to leave the state plan.”
“We want to give people more choices and greater affordability, while ensuring they receive the highest quality of care,” noted Johnson, R-Yakima, who serves on the House Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee. “We need a system that keeps the best of what we have, protects the 89 percent in Washington who have good health insurance, and increases access to the other 11 percent in our state who are uninsured.”
“It will be good to have a forum where the public can hear real choices, versus platitudes from our president who refuses to answer real questions about health care reform,” said Hinkle, R-Cle-Elum, who serves on the House Health Care and Wellness Committee. “With the unfunded liabilities of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, our citizens want to know if we're offering more than another false promise. The answer is yes, some of us are. We can have more choice, more access, and more affordable health care right now with real solutions. I encourage the public to attend as this issue and this debate will impact all of us, our children, and our grandchildren for generations to come.”
No RSVP is required to attend the town hall event.
For more information, contact: Sarah Lamb, Public Information Officer: (360) 786-7720
