Rumproast to Host Healthcare Community Discussion on December 16

Tom Daschle and the Obama-Biden Transition Team recently put out a request for people to host Health Care Community Discussions.  While the intent was to have groups of neighbors gather at homes or other community gathering places for the discussion, I felt an on-line community could just as effectively host such an important discussion.  So I put in an application to moderate a discussion on Rumproast.com and they were good with it!  Here’s the plan.  At 4:00 pm MST the thread will open and continue until 10:00 pm MST.  Here is a link to the Participant Guide for Health Care Community Discussions.  It would be helpful to read it before hand but not mandatory.  It summarizes what the Obama team views as some of the biggest problems with our current system and posits some questions for discussion.  At the end is a 3 question survey that they are requesting everyone answer.  Everyone is invited and, in fact, encouraged to participate in this important discussion.  Afterwards I will summarize the discussion and forward it to the Transition Team as requested.

But there are a few important rules posted after the fold:

Rumproast.com Healthcare Community Discussion rules:

1.  All discussion relative to our health care system is on topic.  What are the worst problems?  What have been your good or bad experiences with the system?  What most needs change?  What is currently working?  Should single payer be on the table?  These are just some examples.

2.  The PUMA’s are not on topic.  Regretfully I must delete off topic comments as a.) I want to keep the discussion focused and b.) I don’t want to plow through all of them when I do the summarization.  My sole discretion will determine what is on or off topic (and that’s not just for PUMA comments.)

3.  All discussion must be respectful.  I will again, in my sole discretion, delete comments that are divisive, disrespectful of others, or otherwise hateful.  Profanity itself will not result in deletion, as I have had experiences with the system that have made me say very bad things indeed.

4.  The Transition Team has specifically requested that people share horror stories and bad experiences with the current system.  They would like the most representative examples sent to them with contact information.  If you do not want your story and contact information shared, just say so with the story.  Otherwise, before making decisions about what to forward on, I will contact you as to your preference.  But I believe Obama is especially sensitive to this idea due to the appalling experiences his mother had when she was dying of cancer.

5.  Finally, I would appreciate it if everyone would at least look at the three question participant survey at the end of the Participant’s Guide and, at the beginning or end of a comment, give me their answers.  Just a quick “b, a, & c” or similar.

That’s it!  I never cease to be amazed at all the smart, informed and funny people who comment (as well as blog!) here and I’m looking forward to a great discussion on this very important topic.

Posted by marindenver on 12/14/08 at 01:54 PM • Permalink

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