AARP Holds Statewide Town Hall Meeting; U.S. Senator Max Baucus Featured Speaker

More than 9,700 AARP households (approximately 14,550 individuals) as well as other citizens from across Montana had the opportunity to participate in a “telephone town hall" meeting about health care reform with Senator Max Baucus. In September, AARP Montana hosted the statewide tele-town hall event to discuss the myths and facts of health care reform.

The hour-long event allowed Montanans from all across the state to join Senator Baucus and AARP to share their views about health care reform. In addition to Senator Baucus, Bonnie Cramer, AARP National Board Chair and David Sloane, AARP Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Advocacy participated in the live event. Questions ranging from how health care reform will affect small businesses to availability of primary care doctors to how Medicare, veterans care, Medicaid and current insurance coverage would be affected under health care reform were posed to Senator Baucus.

AARP placed calls to its member households in Montana to invite them to participate in the event. Members interested in participating only needed to hold the line to be placed into the live event with Senator Baucus. After brief introductions and statements, participants had the opportunity to ask their questions. This format allowed for a wide variety of viewpoints to be represented. AARP has more than 165,000 members in Montana. All AARP households with current phone numbers were called to participate in the event.

“AARP tele-town hall meetings are a relatively new technology that permits AARP to connect to thousands of people in a limited time frame. Because the meetings are interactive, they allow for a thoughtful, two-way dialogue,” said Bob Bartholomew, AARP Montana State Director. “Tele-town hall meetings are very useful to our members because they enable thousands of people to participate. Also, these tele-town hall meetings do not require members to get into their vehicles and drive many miles to attend the meeting. This is especially useful in a state like Montana where the distances are great.”

Participants who have questions or need additional information about health care reform can call AARP at 1-866-227-7449.