Santa Rosa town hall meeting to focus on Affordable Care Act

Feb. 24--Federal and state lawmakers will join health care officials at a town hall meeting Saturday addressing the impacts of the anticipated Republican move to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The meeting, open to the public, also will consider ways to protect more than 3.2 million Californians -- including 35,000 Sonoma County residents -- from the loss of health insurance gained under the law commonly referred to as Obamacare.

State Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said he was concerned President Donald Trump's health plan might "leave Sonoma County's most vulnerable without insurance and take a bite out of our economy."

The president said Wednesday his plan would be introduced in March, matching the timetable announced by Republican leaders in Congress.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, also will participate in the local meeting, along with state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and Assembly members Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg; Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, and Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters.

Panelists will include Mary Szecsey, director of the West County Health Centers; Chris Manson, Northern California regional director for St. Joseph Health, representatives from AARP and the Insure the Uninsured Project, and a home care worker.

The meeting will be from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday in the Piner High School gym, 1700 Fulton Road, Santa Rosa. It will be webcast live at http://bit.ly/ACA-TownHall.

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