Congressperson Bobby Scott sent notice to constituents about his upcoming health care forum:
This March marks the two year anniversary of Congress passing and the President signing into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On Thursday, March 15, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., I will be holding a community forum in Richmond to provide an update on the implementation of the new health care reform law. The forum will be held at the General Assembly Building, Senate Room A, located at the intersection of Ninth Street and Broad Street in downtown Richmond.
Joinining me at the forum will be Ms. Joanne Grossi, the Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Ms. Jill Hanken, a health attorney at the Virginia Poverty Law Center. Director Grossi will provide information on what provisions of the Affordable Care Act have already been implemented and what the public can expect to be implemented in the next few years. Ms. Hanken will provide insight on what has been happening at the state level in regards to implementing the new health care law. We will also be joined by constituents who have already benefited from the Affordable Care Act.
Seating is limited, so those who plan to attend may want to contact his office.
In additional health care policy news, the Green Party had this press release (click on title for full statement):
Religion and Women’s Rights
Costly Coverage: Religious Freedom and
Reproductive Rights in the Birth Control Debate
Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
VCU Student Commons Theater, 907 Floyd Avenue, Richmond, VA 23284
On Tuesday, March 20, 2012, a distinguished panel will gather to debate
whether the Affordable Care Act does or does not diminish religious
freedom. As wider public debate heats up, those who believe it does are
facing off against those who believe that “religious exemptions,”
wrongly defined, endanger the rights of women. Some of the Richmond
region’s largest employers have raised freedom-of-conscience concerns
with respect to the Obama Administration proposals. Despite the
Administration’s recent compromise position, the rift between the sides
continues to grow. The defeat of the Blunt Amendment in the U.S. Senate
did not end the political give-and-take, and heated controversy over
many aspects of this matter is sure to infuse the 2012 Presidential
electoral season.
In the course of the March 20th debate, experts on both sides will share
their perceptions and then accept questions from the audience. Barton
Hinkle, Deputy Editor of the Editorial Pages, Richmond Times-Dispatch,
will offer opening remarks. The panel will include:
l Jeffrey F. Caruso: Executive Director, Virginia Catholic Conference
l William H. Hurd: Partner, Troutman Sanders and Adjunct Professor,
George Mason University Law School
l Jennifer L. McClellan: Virginia State Delegate, 71st District
l Karen Raschke: Retired Attorney and Planned Parenthood Lobbyist
The event will be moderated by Ambassador (ret.) Randolph Bell,
President of the First Freedom Center, and Isabelle Richman, JD, PhD, a
Faculty Associate in VCU’s Religious Studies Program.
This discussion is free and open to the public. Parking is available
for $5 for the evening at the 801 W. Main Street Parking Deck (arrive by
6:15 p.m. to beat the Landmark event parking rush) and for $5 at the
Cary Street Parking Deck, 1101 W. Cary Street. Click at the link for a
map, and reference the lower part of the map (left of Monroe Park) for
the location of the parking decks and the VCU Student Commons:
http://www.bsv.vcu.edu/vcupark/pdfmaps/AcademicLocator.pdf
<http://www.bsv.vcu.edu/vcupark/pdfmaps/AcademicLocator.pdf> .
This debate is the fourth in a four-part series of public presentations
hosted by a partnership of the First Freedom Center
<http://firstfreedomcenter.org/> , the Religious Studies Program
<http://www.has.vcu.edu/wld/academics/majors/relstudies/> at Virginia
Commonwealth University, and the University of Richmond School of Law
<http://law.richmond.edu/> . It is made possible by the generous
financial support of Bon Secours Richmond Foundation
<http://www.bsvaf.org/page.aspx?pid=972> . The series addresses the
rights enshrined in American law and in the universally-binding
instruments of international law, and then considers those human rights
from the perspectives both of jurisprudence and of religious and
philosophic communities. The purpose of the series is to inform and
engage the public in important religion, human-rights and public-policy
issues that are in the headlines nearly every day.
For more information, contact the First Freedom Center at 804-643-1786 .
or at caff@firstfreedom.org