Neil's Notebook Second healthcare forum hears calls for reform from diversity of voices
July 1, 2009
Neil held his second healthcare forum of the summer in Honolulu on July 1 and heard doctors, health professionals, and a host of other people who held a variety of opinions but agreed on one thing: healthcare reform is needed now.
Below: A Honolulu doctor speaks on healthcare reform during Neil's forum.
Neil led a panel of community leaders in an open discussion during the 90-minute forum at Queen’s Conference Center - Mabel Smyth Auditorium to gather public input on healthcare reform.
The forum included presentations by a panel comprised of Neil and:
Jim Tollefson, President and CEO of the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce;
Bruce Bottorff, AARP Hawaii Associate State Director;
Randy Perreira, Executive Director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association and President of Hawaii AFL-CIO;
Dr. Clementina Ceria-Ulep, Vice President of Faith Action for Community Equity, a faith-based, grass-roots organization representing 28,000 people on Oahu that fights poverty and injustice.
Some of the guests in the audience that filled the Mabel-Smyth Auditorium in downtown Honolulu included a:
53-year-old woman, who has spent her lifetime battling cancer and the healthcare system, paying $10,000 to have a baby and $20,000 to treat her breast cancer;
Registered Nurse who is wheelchair-bound due to severe rheumatoid arthritis and pays out-of-pocket medical expenses that average $10,000 a year;
Single mother who always struggled without employer contributions for healthcare coverage.
Neil will take his findings from both his forums back to Washington, D.C. and present them to Congress which is working to send healthcare reform legislation to President Obama by the end of the year.
The July 1st forum was a follow-up to a forum on May 28th that focused on a discussion with healthcare providers in Hawaii.
