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Answering Obama's Call: Local Residents Submit Health Reform Recommendations

By Elana Gordon

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-810177.mp3

Kansas City, MO – Several area residents are heeding president-elect Barack Obama's call for health policy recommendations. KCUR's Elana Gordon has more.

More than 4,000 community discussions about health care reform are taking place across the country this month. That's following a recent request from the Obama transition team that people get together and compile both suggestions for health reform and personal health care stories. Bill Douglas is a local wellness instructor and says he jumped on the invitation to organize a gathering last week in Shawnee.

Douglas: "I decided that, well, it had been a long time since anyone in Washington had really wanted to know what my opinion was, and so I figured there were a lot of other people out there that felt the same way."

Douglas says the eight people that attended all agreed that too many Americans lack health coverage, and that the country should adopt an expanded Medicare-for-all type of system. Dr. Daniel Redwood, a teacher at the Cleveland Chiropractic College, put together a discussion a few days ago at the college's Overland Park campus. He says about 40 people participated.

Redwood: "There were a number of medical physicians, nurses, attorneys, students, people young and old - and that led to a very stimulating discussion."

Redwood says everyone there believed that all Americans should have health coverage but that many disagreed on how to go about providing it. The Obama transition team says people have until the end of next week to hold such meetings and submit their recommendations. The Foundation on Aging has scheduled a public health care discussion tomorrow morning at St. Luke's Hospital.

Funding for health care coverage on KCUR has been provided by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City.

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