Members of Inland Action visited Washington, D.C. March 5-9 to talk with congressional leaders and advocate for changes in health care, workforce development and transportation legislation that would help improve the quality of life for Inland Empire residents.

Inland Action is a non-profit, non-partisan organization comprised of public citizens who promote economic development in the two counties and 19 cities that make up the Inland Empire. The group travels annually to Washington, D.C. and Sacramento to lobby for changes on behalf of the area.

This year’s delegation included 25 business and community leaders from San Bernardino and Riverside counties. HASC’s Christina Bivona-Tellez, Regional Vice President, led the health care advocacy efforts along with Dimitrios Alexiou, Chief Operating Officer, Totally Kids Rehabilitation Hospital; Stan Weisser, Representative, Redlands Community Hospital; and Ray Gonzalez, Representative, St. Bernardine’s Medical Center. Key concerns for the delegation included:

•  The impact of health care reform-related Medicare and Medicaid payment reductions on hospitals.
•  The financial impact of adopting electronic medical records and becoming part of the Health Information Exchange.
•  Ensuring the coverage expansions and insurance reform bring the number of uninsured to the lowest possible levels.

“It was a great opportunity to meet with our elected officials and show that we care about the issues,” Alexiou said. “It was important to demonstrate our support for health care reform, but also share concerns about parts of the Accountable Care Act that we feel need some tweaking.”

Other issues addressed by the group included the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act to help develop skilled health care workers and to combat the area’s 15 percent unemployment rate; and the adoption of a new transportation bill to fund infrastructure like freeway interchanges and high-speed railways connecting the Inland Empire with other counties and promoting job development.

Visit www.inlandaction.com for a summary of the 2011 priority issues.