Obama Health Care Community Discussion

Greetings,

The Obama-Biden Transition Team has invited people across the country to hold community discussions on health care reform to give input to the administration. The invitation went out last week, and we have until December 31st to hold these discussions.

Mark your calendars for Sunday, December 28th at 2:00 - 4:00 PM. Many thanks to Southwest Institute for the Healing Arts in Tempe who graciously provided us with a meeting room. This is your opportunity to express your thoughts about complementary and alternative medicine. The new administration is shaping policies related to health care, and for the first time we can ever remember, wide-ranging input is being solicited on a grass roots level.

The "Participant Guide for Health Care Community Discussions" says in part, "Our nation's investment in prevention and public health is inadequate, leading to rapid spread of chronic diseases, many of which could be prevented entirely or managed."

Some of the "Examples of Recommended Preventative Screenings" in the Participant Guide caught our attention:

You may wish to say something about autism, autoimmune diseases, the health impacts of the body burden of chemicals, cancer treatments, fibromyalgia, genetically modified foods, the Farm Bill's impact on food, widespread use of pesticides, vaccinations, the role of insurance in medicine... whatever is on your mind, whatever is important to you.

The moderator of this community discussion is Martha Grout, MD, MD(H). She has two decades in emergency medicine and a decade in homeopathic medicine. Her clinic is the Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine in Scottsdale, specializing in the testing and treatments for chronic illness. The "Moderator Guide" says, "If you are serving as the moderator, your role is to listen, facilitate discussion that elicits the views of all attendees, and help the participants draft a submission to the Transition Health Policy Team. In addition, please identify the most compelling personal stories that illustrate the need for health care reform in our country."

You can read the "Moderator Guide" and the "Participant Guide for Health Care Community Discussions" in full at www.ArizonaAdvancedMedicine.com.  Look for the "Health Care Community Discussion" click at the top of the home page.

If you will be out of town, put down your thoughts in writing ahead of time, and we will submit your letter along with the submissions gathered at the meeting. Be concise, use your spell checker, and have someone proofread it for you. Use Microsoft Word. Email it prior to December 28th to budinger@earthlink.net and we will include it in the electronic submission. Put "Heath Care Discussion" in the subject line so I don't lose it in the spam. All submissions from these community discussions must be made electronically; nothing is being accepted by mail.

This is a unique opportunity. Please come and speak up as health care policy is being shaped for the next decade. And if you know of others who would like to know about this meeting, please share this invitation with them.

Many thanks to Patti Milligan of Sprouts for providing us with clean water.
Many thanks to KC Miller of SWIHA for providing the room and sound system.
And thanks to all of you in advance for taking time to participate!
 
Signed:
Mary Budinger
Medical journalist
 
Martha M. Grout, MD, MD(H)
Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine