FARMINGTON – A public forum on health care reform will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, in the Bass Room at Franklin Memorial Hospital.

The free forum is titled Where Are Our Health Care Dollars Going and What Can We Do About It? It’s presented by Maine AllCare and everyone is welcome.

Dr. Julie Pease, a psychiatrist and president of Maine AllCare, will be guest speaker. Joining her on the panel are Dr. Geoff Gratwick, a Bangor rheumatologist and member of the Maine State Senate; Alice Knapp, a Richmond attorney and former director of the Consumer Health Care Division, Maine Bureau of Insurance; and Garrett Martin, executive director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy.

A discussion and questions and answers will be moderated by Joe Lendvai, chairman of communications for Maine AllCare.

Some of the questions to be addressed include:

* Where, why, and how much money are we wasting on health care, without increasing benefits or quality of care?

* Why are we the only industrialized nation without a national health system?

* Why will over 27 million people have no coverage once the Affordable Care Act is fully implemented?

* How many people die each year because of lack of medical insurance?

* What is the prevalence and fear of medical bankruptcy?

* Why should health care be a human right, and what principles should be included in a system that is available to us all?

* What benefits can a universal, single-payer system provide for individuals, employers, hospitals, and the whole economy?

* How can a universal, single-payer system be achieved?

For more information contact Dr. John Sytsma at 778-9825 or Joe Lendvai 359-8306 jlendvai@maineallcare.org.

Maine AllCare is an all-volunteer, non-partisan, nonprofit organization that promotes quality, affordable, equitable and universal health care for Maine people through research, education and advocacy. Maine AllCare is the Maine state chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.

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