Washington, DC – Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson held a telephone townhall for constituents of the 30th Congressional District of Texas tonight from 7:10 p.m. to 8:10 p.m. CST.  The telephone townhall focused on health care reform, and constituents were able to ask Congresswoman Johnson questions about the health care system and Congressional efforts to improve it.

Congresswoman Johnson opened the townhall by stressing the need for reform.

“People who have health insurance have seen insurance premiums double in the last nine years, deductibles continue to climb, and out-of-pocket costs shoot up by a third,” Congresswoman Johnson said.  During the recession, we have seen many people lose jobs—and losing a job often means losing health insurance coverage.

“Furthermore, there are already 47 million people who don’t have health insurance in the U.S., and many of them live in Texas,” she continued.  “People without insurance are often forced to use emergency rooms for their primary care, and they aren’t able to access the medical knowledge they need to stay healthy.”

After outlining the House health care reform bill, she opened the discussion to questions from callers.

Early in the call, Congresswoman Johnson discussed the ways in which small businesses will benefit from the enactment of the House bill.

“We are going to put a plan together that small businesses can afford,” Congresswoman Johnson said.  “Small businesses will find coverage in the health insurance exchange, as will the self-employed.  I think that most small businesses will want to help their employees have insurance.”

In response to a question about the community health centers in the 30th District, Congresswoman Johnson emphasized the benefits to making primary care available to everyone.  Throughout the call, she emphasized that emergency care is the most expensive kind of care there is.

“We hope to divert people away from the emergency rooms and to these community health centers,” she said.  “Eat differently, exercise more, get the weight down—we will insist on people having the opportunity to educate themselves so that they can be responsible.

Finally, in response to a question about giving every American access to the health insurance that Members of Congress have, Congresswoman Johnson replied that a goal of health care reform is to make quality health insurance available to everyone.

“You will be able to have my insurance,” she said.  “I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and you can have the insurance I have if you want.  It should be available to everyone, and I can tell you this: it is coming.”

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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure and a senior member of the Science Committee. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which, includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Oak Lawn, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, & South Oak Cliff; all of Balch Springs, DeSoto, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Cedar Hill, Duncanville, Ferris, Glenn Heights and Ovilla.