Santa Rosa, CA – In response to the dangerous proposals set forth by the President to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05) and Senator Mike McGuire, along with the Sonoma County state legislative delegation, are hosting a Town Hall focused on the Affordable Care Act, which has brought healthcare coverage to 35,000 Sonoma County residents and over 3.2 million across California.

“Since we passed the Affordable Care Act, more than 20 million people have gained coverage,” said Thompson. “Men, women, and kids with pre-existing conditions no longer have to fear losing their insurance when they need it the most. Children can stay on their parents’ plans while they finish school and get on their feet. I’ve heard from hundreds of my constituents about what our healthcare system means to them, and I will bring their concerns back to Washington and fight to preserve the care they rely on.”

In addition, the leaders of both State Legislative Health Committees will be on hand to discuss the impacts of ACA and California’s plan to defend it from the dangerous repeal efforts at the federal level: Assemblymember Jim Wood, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee and Senator Ed Hernandez, Chair of the Senate Health Committee. Senator Bill Dodd and Assemblymembers Marc Levine and Cecilia Aguiar-Curry.

California has experienced the largest percentage point decline in the uninsured rate of any state – a significant drop from 20 percent when the ACA passed in 2010 to 8.6 percent in 2015. During the Hearing, policy makers, patients, doctors, and health care providers will discuss the potential impacts an ACA repeal would have in the North Bay, as well as the direct impacts it could have on patients.

“We are deeply concerned that President Trump’s plans for the Affordable Care Act will hurt millions of Californians, leave Sonoma County’s most vulnerable without insurance and take a bite out of our economy,” McGuire said. “We’re bringing the leading experts together to provide updates on policy strategies, and to hear an overview of what to expect from local hospitals, community health centers, patients and medical professionals.”

The above event is open to the press.

Other Speakers Include:

• Deborah Kelch Executive Director, Insure the Uninsured Project
• Mary Szecsey, Executive Director, West County Health Centers
• Chris Manson, Regonal Director, St Joseph Health, Northern California
• Connie Barker,  a homecare worker who will tell her ACA story
• Dr. Nina Weiler-Harwell, AARP California Associate State Director

Here are the Town Hall details:

WHAT:  The Affordable Care Act: Keeping California Healthy Town Hall

WHEN:  Saturday, February 25, 2017 from 9 to 11 a.m.

WHERE:  Piner High School, 1700 Fulton Rd, Santa Rosa, CA 95403

WATCH LIVE at http://bit.ly/ACA-TownHall

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