Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, is one of approximately 30 state lawmakers from around the nation who will be in Washington on Wednesday to consult with President Barack Obama’s administration about health-care reform.
Feldman wrote in an e-mail that the lawmakers will hold a news conference with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in front of the White House around 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Feldman said a letter she and others recently sent to Washington leaders about health-care reform may have been the reason for the invitation.
“What a thrill– I have been waiting for leadership on this issue from the federal level for over a decade,” Feldman wrote on her blog. “And they want to know what works– and what does not– out here in New Mexico, which has one of the lowest rates of insurance in the country.”
“Here’s where it’s great to have a former State Senator in the White House,” Feldman wrote. “Obama knows that states have been struggling with access and cost issues for a decade. … The White House staffers, in subsequent conference calls have said the President wants this done by August. So now is when the rubber meets the road. All hands on deck.”