Patients, employers, nurses, doctors, and hospital administrators have the most significant opportunity in decades to unite and build a universal health care system for all Californians. Watch a series of statewide town hall meetings where they discuss common problems and consensus universal health care solutions. To date, 14 town hall events have been broadcast to more than 30 million viewers throughout California.
Contact us if you’d like to participate in a local town hall meeting.
San Francisco
Michael Finney of KGO-TV (ABC) moderated the first town hall in San Francisco. 40 stakeholders participated in the televised event, including: insured and uninsured patients; Daniel Zingale, former Director of the Department of Managed Health Care; Senator Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont); Sara Nichols of the California Nurses Association; Lee Blitch of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce; Steve Thompson of the California Medical Society; and, Bob Sillen of the Santa Clara Valley Hospital System.
San Diego
FTCR worked with San Diego’s KGTV (ABC) on a 3-day health care series that culminated in a town hall event at the County Administration Center moderated by KGTV’s Lee Ann Kim. Segments of the event, which hosted over 100 San Diego consumers, hospital CEOs, small business owners and others, were aired on KGTV. The event was taped and aired in full on the San Diego County Television Network. In addition to the town hall, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) worked with KGTV to produce two health care investigative stories on HMO arbitration and abusive practices. Prior to the town hall, FTCR organized a live 2 hour on-air phone bank of health care experts that responded to over 500 consumer health care questions.
- Read the Transcript
- Watch the Video* Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Los Angeles
Adelphia Communication’s former moderator and now Los Angeles City Councilman, Bill Rosendahl, moderated the 90 minute the town hall which aired on a repeat basis throughout California. This event featured 45 Los Angeles regional and statewide voices, including the president of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, minority health organizations, state legislators, county officials, and uninsured consumers.
- Read the Transcript
- Watch the Video* Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
California Connected
FTCR worked with the award-winning weekly PBS television news program, California Connected, to develop two cutting edge health care programs modeled on our successful town halls. The first 1 hour program provided point-of-view interviews with each of the major stakeholder groups: consumers, business owners, health professionals and health insurers. The second 45 minute show brought together 15 leading voices in health care reform for an all-day ¿pizza session¿ where 
reform advocates developed an outline for universal health care reform. Produced through a unique collaboration of KCET-Los Angeles, KPBS-San Diego, KQED-San Francisco and KVIE-Sacramento, California Connected is seen throughout the state.
KPCC Southern California Public Radio
FTCR organized a live 1 hour KPCC radio town hall hosted by Larry Mantel that featured the following in-studio quests and calls from listeners: Jerry Flanagan of FTCR, Dr. Cousineau of the USC Keck School of Medicine, Michael Tanner of the CATO Institute, Tom Epstein of Blue Shield of California, Steve Thompson of the California Medical Association. KPCC is an NPR affiliate station based in Pasadena, California.
Leisure World of Orange County
Leisure World, a retirement community in Southern California, is the first municipality in the nation exclusively for senior citizens. In attendance at the town hall were Don R. McCanne, retired physician and national board member of Physicians for a National Health Plan; Felix Schwarz, Executive Director of Health Care Council of Orange County; Bea Levin, a retired Orange County nurse; Ted Rosenbaum, Political Coordinator for People for a National Health Plan; and, small business owners Howard and Marilyn Meek. The forum was broadcast to Leisure World’s 18,000 residents.
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