If you take two Americans who are physically identical – same age, same gender, same race, same weight, same smoking history – and one of them has health insurance and one does not, then the one without health insurance is 40% more likely to die each year.

Rep. Alan Grayson has started a website where relatives or friends of some of those 44,789 people can send their stories. Click here to read some of those stories. It’s sobering.

Last June, the Vermont legislature voted to create a universal health care program, following a three-year campaign by the Vermont Workers Center (VWC).

How did they do it? At first, people told them winning health care for all wasn’t politically possible. By organizing thousands of people around the idea that health care is a human right, they were able to redefine the debate and convince their legislature to take action. You can learn about their campaign by reading “Lessons From The Single-Payer State,” by VWC’s director, James Haslam.

Even better, you can learn about Vermont’s victory from the source!

December 12-17, Kate Kanelstein and Sarah Weintraub, Vermont Workers Center organizers, will tour Oregon to talk about their campaign, and local folks will discuss what we can learn and apply from their experience. Mark your calendars and spread the word about the following events:

Monday, Dec. 12: Corvallis
Grace Lutheran Church, Ronnenkamp Hall, 435 NW 21st, 6 pm
POTLUCK: bring salad, main dish or dessert to serve 8
Table service ,beverages to be provided.
For more information: Betty Johnson,  bjonnson2@juno.com  541-752-3207
Mike Huntington mchuntington@comcast.net  541-745-5635

Monday Dec. 12:  Bend
For more information: Dave Stranahan Central Oregon JwJ, (541) 617-3879, organizer@jwjcentraloregon.org, www.jwjcentraloregon.org/

Tuesday, Dec 13: Baker City
Baker County Library, 6:30-8:30
For more information: Marilyn Dudek 541-523-4421, clm_marilyn@yahoo.com  or Mike Huntington mchuntington@comcast.net,  541-745-5635

Wednesday, Dec. 14: Southern Oregon
Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 87 4th St., Ashland, OR,  7pm-9pm
For more information: Wes Brain, Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, (541) 482-6988, brain@mind.net

Wednesday Dec. 14: La Grande
For more information: Bill Whitaker wwhitak@boisestate.edu Home 541- 663-1358 Cell  541-805-5681, or Mike Huntington mchuntington@comcast.net  541-745-5635

Thursday Dec. 15:  Pendleton, 1-4 p.m.
Community Room, City Hall, 500 SW Dorion Avenue
(enter from SW Emigrant Avenue)
For more information: Frank A. Erickson, M.D.  541-377-6670 cell dr_erickson@mac.com  or Mike Huntington mchuntington@comcast.net  541-745-5635

Thursday, Dec. 15: Eugene
Location and time: Lane County’s Harris Hall, 8th and Oak, 7-9pm
For more information: Ruth Duemler 541-484-6145, ruthduemler@comcast.net

Friday, Dec. 16: Salem
Loucks Auditorium, 585 Liberty St. SE, 4-6 pm
For more information: Orlando Lopez, Mid-Willamette JwJ, olpz89@hotmail.com

Friday, Dec 16:  Hood River
For more information: Bonnie New bnew1@live.com or Mike Huntington mchuntington@comcast.net  541-745-5635

Portland: Sat., Dec. 17, 1-4 pm
At PCC -Cascade, Moriarty Arts & Humanities Auditorium, 705 N. Killingsworth.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Intercultural Organizing, KBOO Community Radio, and Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon

Info: Portland Jobs with Justice 503-236-5573 (ext.2), see Facebook, or download the flyer.

This tour is organized by the five Oregon chapters of Jobs with Justice (Portland Jobs with Justice, Central Oregon Jobs with Justice, Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network, Mid-Willamette Valley Jobs with Justice Organizing Committee, Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice) and the Oregon Single Payer Campaign.

 
Please support this tour:
Tell your friends, neighbors, coworkers … everyone!
Distribute event flyers (request them from local organizers)
Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper about the issue and your local event
Send emails about the event, post to Facebook, announce on blogs
And of course, attend an event and bring people with you

Betty Johnson, longtime health care activist, says: The Coordinated Care Organizations (called Accountable Care Organizations in the federal law) are regional organizations which will be responsible initially for coordinating and integrating physical, mental and oral health services for persons on the Oregon Heath Plan and which focus on preventive and primary care services. The intent is to literally transform how health care is delivered now. Eventually this same regional entity would provide health care for teachers and state employees and possibly all the rest of us! Ultimately the goal is to improve the quality, coordination and integration of health care and to control health care costs.

Want to know more?

Wednesday November 2, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Dennis Hall, First Presbyterian Church, 9th and Monroe, CORVALLIS

Join us to:
• LEARN about the Governor’s vision for health care reform in Oregon.
• DISCUSS the role that regional Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs)
will play in delivering services.
• SHARE your stories about health issues facing your family and community.
• VOICE your recommendations to the Oregon Health Authority about how
health care will be delivered in Benton County.

Speakers:
Mitch Anderson, MA, Benton County Health Department; Michael Bonetto, PhD, MPH, MS, Oregon
Health Policy Board, Kristin Bradford, MD, Community Health Centers of Linn & Benton Counties;
Kevin Ewanchyna, MD, Samaritan Health Services; Kelley Kaiser, MPH, InterCommunity Health Network.
Discussion facilitated by Charlie Tomlinson, former Mayor of Corvallis

To learn more about Coordinated Care Organizations, visit: www.health.oregon.gov

Sponsored by: Benton County Health Department, Benton-Linn Health Equity Alliance, Community Health Centers of Linn and Benton Counties,
League of Women Voters-Corvallis, Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates, National Alliance on Mental Illness-Mid Valley, Physicians for National Health Program, and Samaritan Health Services.

FREE childcare and light refreshments beginning at 5:45pm

One is why do we call it single payer? Answer: Because no one has yet come up with a better, simpler, name. Health care is a very complex issue, and it’s hard to put it into a word or two. We used to think that Medicare for All was a good alternative, but I’ve just received my 150-page Medicare and You book, and realized that they have managed to make even Medicare so complicated that it’s no longer a good concept. Any good ideas?

The other question is why do we need single payer? If you have read much on this site, you may know the answers. But if you are not yet convinced, check out this link.

Meanwhile, the governor of Montana is seeking a waiver to introduce single payer into his state. And Vermont is moving toward single payer. Could it happen here?

Insurance Exhange
The Oregon Insurance Exchange was created this session. Health care consumer advocates proposed important principles, repeatedly contacted legislators, attended and testified at hearings, and shared their personal “horror” stories either as individuals or as small business owners.

The Insurance Exchange bill is Oregon’s response to the federal mandate in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish an insurance marketplace where consumers and small businesses can shop for health plans, take advantage of tax credits and obtain lower cost insurance through a larger insurance pool.

Regence rate increase
In the midst of the last month flurry of the 2011 legislative session, consumers voiced their concerns at the first public hearing on an insurance rate increase in Oregon in over 20 years! When Regence filed for their increase, the Oregon Insurance Division responded by holding a public hearing to inform their decision about whether or not to approve the increase. Laura Etherton, Oregon State Public Interest Research Group, reported findings from OSPIRG’s analysis of the rate filing, stating that the proposed increase had not been adequately justified and also would drive down already shrinking numbers of persons enrolled in health insurance coverage. More than 800 comments were filed protesting this rate increase.
Result: A 12.8% was approved, rather than 22.1% requested. This reduction will save Regence members approximately $12.5 million per year, or $15.58 per member per month.

While this is a noble intention, advocates’ concerns with the bill included consumer protections, conflict of interest among exchange board members and lack of negotiating power of the exchange. These were the key issues for health care advocates. OSPIRG, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Oregon Nurses Association and numerous other human services and consumer advocacy organizations joined in a strongly worded letter to legislators stating “We cannot support Senate Bill 99-3.” Nevertheless Senate Bill 99-A passed out of the Senate Health Care, Human Services and Rural Health Policy Committee with a 5-0 vote and later passed on the Senate floor with wide bipartisan support 24-5.

On July 30, Medicare will be 46 years old. Come to the Corvallis Riverfront to the birthday party and celebrate! There will be music and cake! More details to follow.

Meanwhile, Vermont is inching closer to some sort of single-payer system. The bills have passed both the state House and Senate, but need to be reconciled, and a lot of details need to be worked out, including the funding, who will be covered, and what level of benefits will be covered. Pretty basic stuff.

And in Oregon, the legislature is inching toward participation in the health insurance exchange in the federal health reform legislation. A Senate Committee has approved Senate Bill 99, which proposes to create an exchange as a public corporation with a governing board. The exchange will be available to individuals and businesses with 50 or less employees in 2014, and in 2016 would be open to all purchasers. It is likely that the Senate and House will pass the Bill, albeit probably with some revisions. HCAO believes that the exchanges will probably end up covering mostly poor and sick people, so not really solving our basic problems.

Since your blogger is originally from England, we must also note that Britain’s National Health Service, which has provided truly universal care for over sixty years, faces major cuts and a serious threat of increased privatization. Heartbreaking.

See the calendar page for details of a benefit for Mid Valley Health Care Advocates on May 14.

You can find the final bill here: HB3510.

About 200 people rallied on the steps of the Capitol in support of the bill, lobbied their legislators, and attended the committee hearing. Here is the Oregonian’s story. And here are some photos from southern Oregon activists who traveled to Salem for the rally.

Everybody In, Nobody Out—It’s Time for Your Voice to Be Heard!

Among the inspiring speakers were Dr. Margaret Flowers of PNHP and Rep. John Conyers (video here), who has introduced single payer legislation into Congress each year.

You can find detailed notes on what happened at the conference here and a video of the labor session here.

Advocates left the conference ready to support the next step toward single payer in Oregon — the Affordable Health Care for All Oregon Act.

The bill will be introduced soon and is likely to be scheduled for a committee hearing on March 4. Ask your legislator, if hesitant to sign on as a co-sponsor, to at least commit to ensuring that the bill gets a committee hearing.

Initial endorsers include: AFL-CIO Oregon • Alliance for Democracy • Alliance for Retired Americans–Oregon • American Association of University Professors–Portland State University • American Federation of Government Employees – AFGE 2157 • American Federation of Teachers Oregon • American Medical Student Association–OHSU • Community Alliance of Tenants • Communication Workers of America 7901 • Eastside Democratic Club • Elders in Action • First Unitarian Church of Portland • Health Care for All-Oregon • IBEW 48 (Electricians) • InterfaithHealth Care Network • ILWU 8 (Longshore & Warehouse) * IUOE 701 (Operating Engineers) • Mad as Hell Doctors • Nurses for Single Payer Health Care–Portland • Oregon Consumer League • Oregon Education Association • Oregon State Council for Retired Citizens • Portland Alliance • Portland Jobs with Justice • Physicians for a National Health Program–Corvallis • Physicians for a National Health Program–OHSU • Physicians for a National Health Program–Portland • Sisters of the Road • United Seniors of Oregon • Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom •

Gov. Peter Shumlin was voted into office after making single-payer health care a cornerstone of his campaign, and he has the support of a majority of both legislative houses in the state.

HCA-O applauds Vermont, and we hope to see the Affordable Health Care for All Oregon Act move through the Oregon legislature this year.

Oregon’s Sen. Wyden is hoping to get legislation passed in Congress that would permit states to substitute their own plans for the federal health care reform package passed last year, so long as they give at least as many people coverage at least as good as the federal plan. Currently, states could not do this until 2017 — after they have been mandated to institute insurance exchanges and other portions of the federal legislation. Wyden’s bill would allow alternatives in 2014, thus saving the costs of implementing two radically different plans.