White House Regional Forum on Health Reform

We have made tremendous progress in Washington State to ensure that our citizens are healthy and have access to high-quality, affordable health care, but our health-care crisis needs national solutions. With President Barack Obama, we now have a partner who is set to bring national health reform solutions to the United States.

On March 5, 2009, President Obama hosted a White House Forum on Health Reform. Joined by members of Congress and national leaders in the health care field, the President received a report synthesizing more than 3,200 group reports generated from Health Care Community Discussions held in every state: Americans Speak on Health Reform: Report on Health Care Community Discussions.

In follow-up to the March 5 Forum, and in working with Democratic and Republican Governors across the country, the White House has put together five White House Regional Forums on Health Reform. These forums continue to bring together Americans across the region, key health care stakeholders, and elected officials from both sides of the aisle to discuss what must be done to change our health care system. The first four of these forums were held in Michigan, Vermont, Iowa and North Carolina.

On Monday, April 6 in Los Angeles, California, I will join Governor Schwarzenegger and Melody Barnes, Domestic Policy Advisor to President Obama, to hold the fifth and final regional town forum. It is vitally important that your voices and ideas are heard. I invite you to submit questions for the forum by going to the link, below:

http://www.healthreform.gov/regionalhealthforum.html

We can all be proud of the work already accomplished in Washington State on health care. To learn more about our efforts, please visit my website:

http://www.governor.wa.gov/priorities/healthcare/default.asp

Now is the time we can bring forward best practices in areas such as disease management and prevention, evidence-based medicine, and health information technology to inform the national discussion and ensure that all of the people of the United States have access to the health care they deserve.

Sincerely,

Chris Gregoire, Governor