Obama Team Engages Public on Health Care

Daschle Visits Indiana for Grass-Roots Forum

By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 30, 2008; A03




DUBLIN, Ind., Dec. 29 -- Dolly Sweet, 77, has battled cancer more than once. She's a fighter. But when her doctor recently prescribed a medication that cost $35,000 a year, she felt she had no choice.

"I canceled the medicine," she said matter-of-factly to former senator Thomas A. Daschle, President-elect Barack Obama's top health adviser, who had come to the fire station here on a quest for "fresh ideas" on improving U.S. medical care.

"I wonder if you could talk to the drug companies," Sweet asked Daschle. "That's more than my Social Security."

Daschle, seated on a metal folding chair with pen in hand and videographer in tow, symbolically kicked off the incoming administration's effort to revamp health care with a grass-roots event that not-so-coincidentally mimicked the types of gatherings that Obama drew on to build support for his presidential candidacy.

"It's stories like that that can make a huge difference as we try to persuade members of Congress and others about the importance of trying to make the system better," Daschle told Sweet.

Even before taking office or introducing concrete policy proposals, the administration-in-waiting is moving to build public support around the broad notion that the U.S. health system needs an overhaul. To Washington veterans, the approach may seem backward, or even naive, but Obama is betting that the energetic, technology-savvy supporters who fueled his candidacy will act as a potent counterbalance to the traditionally powerful special interests that have defeated similar reform efforts.

Daschle told the 35 people at the open meeting in Dublin -- one of 8,500 that will be held nationwide -- that it was "designed really to engage the public, to get out of Washington and hear directly from you about your concerns, about your recommendations, about ways you think our system can be made to work better." Aides said Daschle plans to attend another health-care forum today, at the Congress Heights Senior Wellness Center in Southeast Washington.

Travis Ulerick, an emergency medical technician in this town of 700, organized the session out of what he called frustration over the hardships he sees every day on the job. His ambulance recently picked up a woman who, after suffering a seizure, begged to be let out of the vehicle because she could not afford the $300 fee for transportation to the hospital.

"We have one of the best health-care systems in the world if you have money," said Ulerick, 25. "It's one of the worst if you're poor."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...src=newsletter

Dear ROBERT,

Over the past two weeks, thousands of people representing all 50 states and every corner of the country have hosted health care discussions in their homes and communities. Just this week, I attended a discussion hosted by the Fire Department in Dublin, Indiana, and one hosted by a Senior Wellness Center in Southeast Washington, D.C.

Leading your discussion was the first step. Equally important, we want to hear back from you. I learned so much from attending discussions this week, and we want to know about your discussions, too.

The President-elect has asked me to share your feedback from these discussions -- that's why your submission is so essential.

Please tell us how your discussion went by visiting http://change.gov/reportback. We need to hear from you as soon as possible-by Sunday,January 4th,2009 at the latest=so we can prepare our report for the President-elect.

Both President-elect Obama and I are committed to reforming the healthcare system from the grassroots up-and leaders likeyou are crucuial to that effort.

I'm looking forward to reading youur submissions about your Health Care Community discussions.

Thank you,

Tom


Tom Daschle
Seccretary-designate
Department of Health and Human Services

Tenalouise: I received this today from Daschle's office. I think our project team should draft a reply indicating we would be willing to offer patient originated data to a nationally developed database. Comments?? Bob C

Of couse I would volunteer to return any report before the Sunday deadline.

Bob C

We need to voice our opinions in a thread to be sent to Daschle from Neurotalk, I believe I did this when I went to speak to President Clinton in 2000 -
and it is time to be heard...
PS: