"It Ain't Broke So Don't Fix It" Say Most Oregon Officials About Health Care 10/10/05
"Any candidate for public office in Oregon that tells you that making health care affordable to every Oregonian and reducing the health care costs paid by public institutions in Oregon by 20 percent is NOT the most important issue on the public agenda in Oregon is either ignorant or lying, neither of which are character traits desirable in public officials." Richard Ellmyer, 21st Century Oregon Political Activist
Oregon Health Care Poll - October 2005 to the Present
Approximately 1500 elected officials in Oregon, school board members, city councilors, county commissioners, state legislators etc., were asked to answer the question below by October 7, 2005. They have the option of revising their position at any time. Readers are encouraged to contact their elected officials to discuss and confirm their positions.
Do you agree or disagree that the following three assertions constitute moral and economic problems which need a solution in our state?
1. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow Oregonians have no health insurance at all.
2. There are probably hundreds of thousands of Oregonians, like my family, who can barely afford to pay the skyrocketing premiums for high deductible low to no benefit catastrophic health insurance. That means we can't afford actual health care.
3. Every public institution in our state of Oregon is facing a 13%, + or - a point or two, annual increase in health care costs which have no end in sight and no way to stop. This is slowly but surely draining the lifeblood of public services from every community in our state.
[The names of elected officials in Oregon who Disagree are too numerous to list. If their names do not appear below then they Disagree. There are two notables on this Disagree list, Ted Kulongoski and Jason Atkinson, who are both current public office holders and declared candidates for governor of our state. Unless they acknowkedge these problems and hold View#1 below and support the introduction of the Oregon Community Health Care Bill their records of failure on this issue do not warrent a future in public office.]
IF you agree that we do face the moral and economic dilemma stated above then which of these views most closely resemble your position on the party responsible for solving these problems?
View #1 The state of Oregon is the rightful responsible party to solve the problem of affordable health care for both individual Oregonians and Oregon's public institutions.
| Phyllis | Shovelski | City Council | Echo | January | 2005 |
| Sam | Adams | City Council | Portland | February | 2005 |
| Richard | Olson | City Council | Albany | March | 2005 |
| Pete | Sorenson | County Commission | Lane | May | 2005 |
| John | Lamoreau | County Commission | Union | September | 2005 |
| Bill | Dwyer | County Commission | Lane | September | 2005 |
| Nan | Osbon | City Council | Florence | October | 2005 |
| Milton | Finch | City Council | Port Orford | October | 2005 |
| Mary | Stern | County Commission | Yamhill | October | 2005 |
| Kitty | Piercy | Mayor | Eugene | October | 2005 |
| Roberta | Kennedy | City Council | Sandy | October | 2005 |
| Lisa | Reid | School Board | Albany | October | 2005 |
| Tom | Pagh | City Council | Gladstone | October | 2005 |
| Diana | Tonkin | City Council | Westfir | October | 2005 |
| Gary | Dahl | City Council | Aumsville | October | 2005 |
| Bill | Hall | County commission | Lincoln | October | 2005 |
| Kimberely | Barden | City Council | Harrisburg | October | 2005 |
| Carl | Eskelson | City Council | Port Orford | October | 2005 |
| Vicki | Walker | State Senator | District 7 | October | 2005 |
View #2 The federal government in Washington D.C. is the rightful responsible party to solve the problem of affordable health care for both individual Oregonians and Oregon's public institutions.
| Tom | Potter | Mayor | Portland | September | 2004 |
| Ann | Jacks | School Board | Beaverton | October | 2005 |
| Larry | Henson | City Council | Newport | October | 2005 |
| Tom | Brian | County Commission | Washington | October | 2005 |
| Richard | Walsh | City Council | Keizer | October | 2005 |
View #3 Each individual Oregonian is the responsible party to solve the problem of affordable health care for both themselves and Oregon's public institutions. Those individuals and public institutions that cannot afford health care must rely on charity.
[Public note: During the four year term of Portland's new mayor, Tom Potter, the city of Portland and the Portland School District will spend $50,000,000 in increased health care costs.
Personal note: In the four years from 2002 to 2006 the cost of my monthly health insurance premium will have increased 103% with higher deductibles and fewer benefits. Most individuals and public institutions can not continue to endure such a disastrous trend.]
What Does This Mean?
For those of us who understand the reality that there is a major problem with both individual and public institutional health care and its costs in Oregon, there is a long and difficult road ahead of us before we are likely to make any progress towards a solution.
Several respondents felt compelled to answer a Yes/No poll question with an essay. Most rambled on about the general maladies of the health care system missing the point entirely. To hold everyone responsible is to hold no one responsible. They offer no solutions only criticism. This is unrecognized obstructionism born of intellectually dishonest faulty thinking expressed as useless whining. The same can be said for those who hold View #2, the federal government is responsible for solving Oregon's health care problems. It is self-delusional and counter productive. At least there is the chance that those who believe that the caring, competent and courageous Washington D.C. crowd will come to our rescue can be educated and persuaded to see that a federal resolution of Oregon's health care problems is a dangerous fantasy.
Meaningful health care reform and improvement can not come to Oregonians and Oregon's public institutions unless and until a majority of publicly elected officials within our state publicly acknowledge these social conditions as moral and economic problems which require a solution:
1. Huge numbers of Oregonians have no health insurance.
2. Huge numbers of Oregonians pay for such costly health insurance that they can afford little or no actual health care.
3. All of Oregon's public institutions are facing skyrocketing and unstoppable increases in health care costs which significantly diminish the quality and quantity of services that need to be provided to the public.
It should come as no surprise that not a single member of Oregon's legislature agrees that we have the health care problems mentioned above. Of course, all of them have the best health insurance our tax dollars can buy. Many have health insurance coverage from two or more policies within their families. Their campaigns are largely financed by others who enjoy equally generous health care coverage. Until a majority of the folks that represent us in our state capitol in Salem admit to the existence of these health care problems in our state of Oregon, the public institution designed to solve statewide problems we call our Oregon legislature is not going to even try much less succeed in finding a solution.
What We Need To Do
It is now obvious that a very large number of our fellow citizens serving as elected public officials need to be enlightened or replaced with public servants that recognize that Oregon does have a health care problem and the state of Oregon is the rightful party to accept responsibility for solving that problem. This would include every member of every school board, every city councilor, every country commissioner and certainly every legislator.
We need to stand up, speak out and reject every proposed bond, levy or tax increase for whatever presumably good and noble cause, unless the jurisdiction asking for more of our money:
A. publicly acknowledges the moral and economic health care problems mentioned above,
B. publicly acknowledges the state of Oregon as the rightful party to solve those problems,
AND
C. publicly acknowledges support for the introduction of the Oregon Community Health Care Bill in the next legislative session.
AND
D. publicly acknowledges its commitment, which includes all public employee bargaining units with which it negotiates, to place all of its public employees in the Oregon Heatlh Plan if and when the Oregon Community Health Care Bill becomes law and enrollment becomes an option.
A letter to Santa Claus at "The North Pole", president Josiah Bartlet at NBC's "The West Wing," Geena Davis "The Commander and Chief" at ABC or president George W. Bush at "The White House" will not help us. Health care reform will involve struggle, pain, anger, strained or broken relationships with real people, some "Harry and Louise" and "Swift Boat" like attack ads aimed at you as well as some very difficult personal and public choices.
[Personal note: I have voted for every bond, levy and tax increase for schools, parks, libraries etc. since I became an Oregon voter in 1971. That pattern stops now. The moral and economic crisis in Oregon's health care system is and must be at the top of the political agenda. Nothing is more important. Nothing.]
To Those Who Hold View #1 - Let's Talk
While this news is very disappointing do not be depressed. There are a few elected officials in Oregon, some candidates for public office and lots and lots and lots of Oregonians who recognize not only the problem but the solution.
Those of you who know that View #1 is the right road to a health care solution in Oregon are encouraged to join Richard Ellmyer - Oregon Community Health Care Bill author and project champion, Pete Sorenson - Lane County Commissioner and declared candidate for governor, Jim Robison - former Chair of the Multnomah County Democrats and declared candidate for a House seat and Sam Adams - Portland City Commissioner - et. al. at the Oregon Community Health Care Bill Forum at the Historic Kenton Firehouse in Portland on Saturday October 29, 2005 from 1-3 PM. RSVP richard@goodgrowthnw.org . There are no super politicos nor political wunderkind to lead us. We ordinary Oregonians will have to shoulder the democratic process and fix this ourselves. We must work very hard to convince a majority of our fellow Oregonians of the need to become part of the solution not perpetuate the problem.
Richard Ellmyer
Oregon Community Health Care Bill author and project champion
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses.
Writer/Publisher - Oregon Health Watcher commentary - Published on the Internet and distributed to 6000 readers interested in public health care policy in Oregon.
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/health.html
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/octoberforum.html
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/octoberpoll.html