This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
One thread running through news coverage of this past week's start of open enrollment in the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplace makes our health care coverage team cringe.
Despite our ongoing efforts to explain the new law, analyze its implications and offer strategies for maneuvering it, many still know little about the ACA. News reports make it clear uninsured young adults don't understand their obligations. Polls show many of those surveyed like all of the ACA's provisions yet insist they hate the law. Some interviewed this past week didn't realize Obamacare and the ACA are the same thing.
Certainly, all of us are responsible for staying informed. Our role as citizens in a democracy is to educate ourselves about issues so we can make good decisions. The Tribune's role is to present information from various perspectives so readers can educate themselves.
We do this through our comprehensive news coverage delivered online, via mobile devices and social media, and in print. But now more than ever, we also strive to provide opportunities for your more direct involvement in what we do. We want you to be able share your insights. We want you to comment and ask questions of our reporters as well as the experts we use as sources.
With that goal in mind, The Tribune, in partnership with KCPW 88.3/105.3 FM, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. will hold a town hall discussion on the ACA in the auditorium at the Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E. 400 South.
The Tribune's Jennifer Napier-Pearce will moderate and take questions during the event, which will be broadcast live on KCPW and at sltrib.com.
Panelists include Rep. Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville; Jason Stevenson of the Utah Health Policy Project; Celia Nash of Team Nash Insurance; and Nathan Checketts of the Utah Department of Health.
It's the type of open forum we hope to do more of in coming months.
This first town hall will take place just as we've also made our live Trib Talk video chats a five-day-a-week feature at sltrib.com.
Napier-Pearce moderates chats with newsmakers on the ACA and other news topics, while Brennan J. Smith moderates chats about sports.
If you haven't checked out Trib Talk, please do. It's your opportunity to weigh in, sound off and further educate yourself by posting questions or comments at the end of the introductory story in which the live video is embedded at sltrib.com. You also may post questions on Twitter or Google Plus using a #TribTalk hashtag.
For those unable to watch or participate in the live chat, we provide a brief summary of the discussion into which we embed the archived video so you can watch at their leisure.
We work for you, so our interaction with you is vital to our work.
Try these new avenues for interaction and let us know what you think.
Lisa Carricaburu is managing editor. Reach her at lisac@sltrib.com or on Twitter: @lcarricaburu. —
Join us for town hall Wednesday
I On Wednesday at 7 p.m., The Salt Lake Tribune and KCPW will co-sponsor a town hall meeting on the Affordable Care Act at the Salt Lake City Main Library auditorium, 210 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City. Jennifer Napier-Pearce will moderate a discussion with a panel of experts, who also will address questions.