It’s an action-packed, health-care-oriented 24 hours!
Today I’m in DC at a forum that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has organized for those of us working on health reform in Rhode Island. We’ll hear from Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius and others about the status of reform nationally and how that will affect what we do locally.
And tomorrow (July 15), at 5:30 p.m., Harold Miller, executive director of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, will speak at the next free public forum that is part of the Making It Work series on health reform in Rhode Island that I’m cosponsoring with the RI Foundation.
The forum topic is health care in transition—how do we chart a course from our current health care system to reform? We need to focus on both the quality and cost of health care—Miller will lead the discussion of how we can do that, rather than feel overwhelmed by the challenge of changing such a vast system.
At the end of the day, reform is not so much about an industry changing; it’s about something we all care deeply about—our personal health—and how to ensure that we get quality health care at prices we can afford. We all have a stake in how this health care transition is implemented—not just those who work in the health care industry. And locally, gaining control of runaway medical costs will also help increase job growth in RI.
For more information on the Making It Work event, click here; to register, call 427-4029.
Tomorrow morning is also the next Healthy RI Implementation task force meeting that I’m convening, also open to the public, beginning at 8 a.m. at the RI Foundation in Providence. Click here for more information.
Your participation is important as we work to improve our health care system—I hope to see you!