Citizens Prescribe for Medics at Forum:

participants’ recommendations to be considered by Congress, White HouseAngelenos will have an opportunity to add their opinions, experiences and insights to the national discussion on health care at the upcoming Los Angeles health care community meeting, which will be held Saturday, March 4 from 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The meeting is free and open to the public, but registration is required and can be done at www.citizenshealthcare.gov or by calling (800) 679-3684.The focus of the meeting will be the current state of the U.S. health care system, including the cost and quality of care, as well as access to it. It will feature small-group discussions, during which participants will be encouraged to contribute their ideas and suggestions for improving the nation’s health care system. These suggestions will be combined with those collected at other regional community meetings and used to formulate recommendations to improve health care that will be presented to the President and Congress this fall.This Los Angeles town meeting is one of the two largest in a series of approximately 30 community meetings being organized by the Citizens’ Health Care Working Group. The Working Group is a nonpartisan group authorized by the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act. It consists of 15 members—14 citizen members and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.“It takes courage and vision to change the way we provide health care in our country. Millions of Americans are waiting. This is the time to join together and work for a solution,” said Therese Hughes, a member of the Working Group and government relations and legislative analyst at the Venice Family Clinic.The Group’s Health Report to the American People, which can be reviewed at www.citizenshealthcare.gov, was released in October and serves as a basis for engaging the American people in a dialogue on health care access, cost and quality issues. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality provides administrative support as directed by the Medicare Modernization Act.