Contact: Monique.Clendinen@mail.house.gov
Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen along with 11 of her colleagues in the leadership of the Black, Hispanic, Asian and Progressive Caucuses met with President Barack Obama on Thursday evening to solidify their positions on health care reform. Congresswoman Christensen and her colleagues were invited by the President to discuss their specific concerns as health care reform proposals move through the House and Senate.
“We met for more than an hour and he listened to our concerns,” Congresswoman Christensen said after the meeting. “There was agreement on some issues and not on others, but he pledged to work with us throughout the process. He called on us to be unified in our efforts as real health care reform becomes a reality,” she said.
Congresswoman Christensen has told the White House that meaningful health care reform must be available for all Americans including the nearly 5 million people living in the U.S. territories. The Affordable Health Care for America Act unveiled as the House health care reform bill on Thursday morning includes $10.35 billion in Medicaid funding for the territories over the next nine years. It also provides access to the exchange and the public option and health care subsidies to ensure that everyone can afford coverage. She and her colleagues have also insisted that health care reform include strong health disparity elimination provisions.
“At the end of the day, we will be working to make sure that all Americans have health care that is accessible and affordable,” Congresswoman Christensen said.
