On May 15th elections for School Boards will be held throughout our state. Successful candidates will be hired by voters to exercise a legal and fiduciary duty to taxpayers to spend large sums of public money in the best interests of the tax paying community. A significant portion of public funds spent by School Boards will be dedicated to public employee health insurance costs. Those payments have a direct connection to the moral and economic health care crisis that affects Oregonians and Oregon's public institutions.

Bobbie Regan, Portland School Board member, voted against the recent contract with the Portland Association of Teachers because it did not include a cap on health care costs. Bobbie Regan is an exemplar of the well meaning but misguided public official. Employer side health care caps are NOT a solution merely a shift of burden sharing to employees. Those who are forced to carry this additional economic weight almost always react by seeking higher wages or other items of value to compensate. It is the most obvious, uncreative and common approach taken by those with the power to negotiate with public employees. It is a failed model.

Our state's moral and economic health care crisis affects Oregonians and Oregon's public institutions, including its public schools. The solution to Oregon's number 1 moral, social, economic and political issue must be found in the Oregon legislature not at the individual school district, city or county level. To that end, I ask every Oregon voter to confront the candidates for School Board (and in the future candidates for every publicly elected office) in your community with the following three questions:

1. The profit oriented private health insurance industry which has failed to deliver affordable health care to Oregonians and Oregon's public institutions must NOT be the model upon which a solution to Oregon's moral and economic health care crisis should be based:
A.  Agree
B.  Disagree

2. Should Oregon elected officials - public employees - voters - taxpayers have equal access to the same level of health care or should we perpetuate a multitiered health insurance class system in Oregon:
A. Equal access to same level of health care
B. Multitiered health insurance class system

3. Would you be willing to add your name to this letter?
A. Yes
B. No

March 12, 2007

Dear House Speaker Merkley and Senate President Courtney:
The current legislative debate over health care reform in our state does not include our view that the profit oriented private health insurance industry must not be the model upon which a solution to Oregon's moral and economic health care crisis should be based and that Oregon elected officials - public employees - voters and taxpayers must have equal access to the same level of health care not a perpetuation of our current multitiered health insurance class system.

We request that you find a place holder bill in each chamber which would substitute in its entirety the language of the Oregon Community Health Care Bill (see attached) so that an alternative choice may be discussed and debated this session. The Oregon Community Health Care Bill is the only current fully formed piece of proposed legislation which supports our vision of health care reform. We would welcome others that also meet our requirements.

Thank you for your attention.


Sincerely,
Richard Ellmyer - Oregon Community Health Care Bill author 
Sam Adams - Portland City Council
Jeff Cogen - Multnomah County Commissioner
Edwars "Chip" Enbody - Hubbard City Council
Darrell Flood - Mayor of Lafayette
Bill Hall - Lincoln County Commissioner
Jim Needham - Mollala City Council
Michelle Ripple - Wilsonville City Council
Mary Schamehorn - Mayor of Bandon
Pete Sorenson - Lane County Commissioner


The answers from School Board Candidates now (and answers from future candidates for every publicly elected office later) will tell voters what they need to know about candidates' fundamental views on health care reform and how they might be expected to act upon those opinions if elected.


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 17,000 readers interested in public health care policy in Oregon.
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/health.html