On Saturday afternoon, December 2nd from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm, a public meeting on the California Health Insurance Reliability Act (CHIRA) was held in the meeting room of the Menlo Park Public Library, 800 Alma Street in Menlo Park.

The meeting featured a presentation of the documentary “The Healthcare Solution: California OneCare” and a discussion of CHIRA, the subject of the documentary. CHIRA will establish universal health care in California by creating the California Health Insurance System, a single payer for all health care in the state. CHIRA is designed to provide affordable health insurance coverage with an extensive benefits package, while controlling health care costs and improving health care outcomes.

Following the showing of the documentary Dr. Halsted Holman, Professor Emeritus, Stanford School of Medicine, spoke about system-wide problems with health care, emphasizing the underlying difficulties of a system designed to treat acute care problems but increasingly treating chronic care patients.

Dr. John Shearer, a family practice physician and Co-President of California State Chapter of Physicians For a National Health Program (PNHP), described obstacles that patients and medical professionals encounter in the current system of care.

The speakers panel discussion was videotaped by local cable TV for future showings.

The meeting was sponsored and produced by Health Care for All - California, San Francisco/Mid-Peninsula Chapter.

For additional information, contact Rich Watters at 650-856-7430 or richwatters@mindspring.com.