Live Blog: White House Forum on Health Reform in Los Angeles on April 6

The California Endowment

The staff of The California Endowment provides a play-by-play of the Fifth White House Regional Forum on Health Reform today (April 6) beginning at 10:30 a.m. P.S.T. Watch the event live on healthreform.gov or Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Web site (http://gov.ca.gov/). Please feel free to add a comment below.

Thanks for visiting our live blog and feel free to add to the discussion below.

12:38 p.m.: Dr. Oz concludes the meeting by saying that people need to go to the Web sites healthreform.gov and gov.ca.gov to make their voices heard. "We're not looking for consensus. We're looking for clarity."

12:37 p.m.: Gov. Gregoire adds that "this country deserves nothing less than health care for its people." She also calls for comprehensive health reform and not piecemeal efforts.

12:34 p.m.: Melody Barnes says that we have fewer than 100 days to get something to the President for the issue to move ahead this year. She says that people need to go to healthform.gov and start the community conversations to tell the administration what they want. "100 days. We can do it."

12:30 p.m.: Dr. Oz begins to wrap up the event. He asks the governors what we -- average Americans -- can do to help health reform move along. Gov. Schwarzenegger talks about getting all the various stakeholders together and putting aside all our political ideologies to get health reform done this year. He says, "Health care reform now. Action now. And prevention now."

12:23 p.m.: Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund calls for an "end of the lottery of geography." She passionately calls for better health care and health coverage for all children.

12:17 p.m.: Mayor Ron Dellums of Oakland is talking to the audience via satellite. He thanks The Endowment for taking a lead in showing philanthropy's role in growing healthy communities. He hands the mic to Don Miller, a practicing registered nurse in a Seattle emergency room, who says, "We've become the dumping grounds of America's health care system." He says that while the discussion has touched on prevention, there are other ER issue that have not been addressed: mental health and drug and alcohol dependency problems that plague the ER and take away the number of critical care beds. "These folks need help."

12:10 p.m.: Louise Davis of Peer Health Exchange suggests that the discussion be moved outside of the silo of health and include other stakeholders such as education and educators. She says that college students are a great untapped resource.

12:06 p.m.: Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, talks about changing the health systems to make personal responsibility easier. And suggests involving voters and consumers in this discussion and how the government can be on the side of consumers.

12:02 p.m.: Melody Barnes asks, "How do we get this done?" She says, "It starts with having an open and transparent conversation about health reform." She asks various people around the room for their suggestions. Anthony Wright talks about changing the systems to make personal responsibilty easier. Involve voters and consumers and how gov't can be on the side of consumers with

11:56 a.m.: Gov. Schwarzenegger asks Dr. Oz on his opinion on electronic medical records. He says that it's not smart for doctors "to use paper and pen" in a 21st century world. Dr. Oz talks about the growing movement of the portability of electronic medical records, where patients own their information and ¸they can take their files to their new doctors.

11:48 a.m.: Gov. Schwarzenegger says that "action is now" for health reform and looks forward to working with the Obama administration to make that happen. Melody Barnes talks about values and principles of the administration with health reform: investments in prevention and wellness, patient safety, protecting from bankruptcy and affordable quality care. These among others will guide them as they work with Congress.

11:43 a.m.: Steve Burd, the CEO of Safeway, talks about how prevention and wellness is related to reducing premiums at Safeway. He talks about how their health plan is akin to car insurance: The better your personal record the better your costs.  

11:35 a.m.: Gov. Gregoire shifts the discussion to prevention, highlighting an emphasis on nutrition, exercise, tobacco abuse, and how these issues are key to reducing heath costs even further. She is particularly concerned about the youth, who may be at risk for a reduced lifespan.

11:31 a.m.: Gov. Schwarzenegger addresses cost by talking about ER services, and says that if more people were covered, then ERs wouldn't be overwhelmed or used for nonemergency reasons.

11:21 a.m.: Dr. Oz talks to Supervisor Greg Cox in San Diego via satellite. They talk about personal responsibility in health care as well as the much needed support for the health care safety net. One San Diego participant asks why health care isn't a right for all?

11:18 a.m.: A doctor from the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center talks to Gov. Schwarzenegger and the audience about three things that California doctors want: Universal coverage with portability and access; quality care; and cost control with serious insurance reform. Gov. Schwarzenegger acknowledges his concerns and stresses the need for prevention as well.

11:11 a.m.: A woman from the audience talks about her late husband who was a painting contractor who had a heart attack and then leukemia and lung cancer. Their bills amassed $800,000.

11:04 a.m.: Gov. Schwarzenegger introduces moderator Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is a cardiovascular surgeon at NY Presbyterian Hospital and a contributor to The Oprah Winfrey Show, who'll facilitate the discussion.

11:01 a.m.: Alice Chen, M.D., a doctor at UCLA and from Doctors for America, a group of doctors dedicated to health care reform, takes to the stage to give her perspective on the issue of health care. She talks about her patient, a 49-year-old talent agent who lost his health insurance, who suffered from intestinal problems. Because he didn't have insurance, he waited until he could wait no more. But it was too late -- his organs gave out one by one. "I felt like I failed him," she said. But she said that in a way, "We all failed him."

10:55 a.m.: Gov. Gregoire introduces Melody Barnes head of President Obama's Domestic Policy Council, who talks about problems small business owners are facing, especially since health care premiums have quadrupled in the past few years.

10:51 a.m.: Gov. Schwarzenegger introduces Gov. Chris Gregoire from Washington. She calls health care reform "a moral imperative" and an "economic imperative" and says that addressing cost and quality are key to health access and health reform.

10:46 a.m.: Gov. Schwarzenegger talks about the 6 million Californians still without health reform, and the "lack of incentives for prevention" among some of the issues plaguing California and the rest of the country. He introduces an introductory video by President Obama.

10:43 a.m.: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thanks President Barack Obama for putting health reform at the top of his agenda, and talks about the "very complicated" issue of health care reform.

10:36 a.m.: Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, California H.H.S. Secretary Kim Belshe and state Sen. Elaine Alquis are among the guests. He introduces Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

10:36 a.m.: Robert K. Ross, M.D., president and CEO of The California Endowment, is introducing the distinguished guests.

10:34 a.m.: It's a full house at the Center for Healthy Communities in L.A., with about 175 people in the audience of policymakers, health care stakeholders and California residents.

10:25 a.m.: Hello, and welcome to the White House Regional Forum on Health Reform in Los Angeles, being held at The California Endowment, a statewide health foundation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington State will lead today’s forum along with President Barack Obama's Domestic Policy Adviser Melody Barnes. Dr. Mehmet Oz will be facilitating the discussion.

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