“Today’s discussion with President Obama was a useful and productive conversation. I along with other members of the caucuses once again stressed the importance of including a strong, robust public health option like Medicare in health reform.  A strong and robust public option is the cornerstone of any real effort at comprehensive health care reform.

“Additionally, we expressed the importance of expanding prevention and wellness services and particularly the need for health disparity elimination provisions – such as health equity, data collection, workforce diversity and community health workers - which are necessary to address the root causes of the health inequities that disproportionately and detrimentally affect racial and ethnic minorities, women, rural Americans and Americans within the U.S. Territories. 

“President Obama expressed his appreciation for our input and ensured us that he was taking our views seriously. We hope to continue this dialogue next week prior to the President’s address to Congress.