Your Letter to your Oregon legislators
Below is the letter we will hand deliver it to your legislators during our lobby day on March 26th. Please complete the form below using your street address (not PO box) where you are registered to vote.
Dear Oregon Legislator,
Although I am unable to be in Salem today for the Archimedes Movement's Lobby Day, I wanted to make sure that my voice is heard.
The economic downturn cannot be addressed without doing something about health reform. If we let this session go by without real change, the economics of health care will continue to dominate the state’s budget. We can’t afford to wait any longer. I know that you are facing many difficult decisions during the legislative session, but I urge you to do everything you can to fix our broken health care system. I believe that you have an opportunity to set the direction for Oregon's future health system, one that creates several changes:
- First, ways for us to share both the cost and the responsibility for a new system;
- Second, a way for Oregon to spend its public resources more wisely, and
- Lastly, to create a framework of a system that makes sense and meets the needs of Oregonians.
In front of you for consideration this legislative session are several health reform bills. HB 2009, the largest of these, creates the Oregon Health Authority and integrates state health policy and health insurance planning, policy and functions under a citizen board similar to our current state Transportation Commission. The bill creates a Quality Care Institute and an Oregon Health Insurance Exchange under the Health Authority.
My hope is to see HB 2009:
- Establish an Oregon Health Authority with real authority.
- Require the new Health Authority to develop and establish a public insurance option.
- Ensure that our new health system is supported by broad-based and equitable financing.
- Be vigilant about making the process completely public and transparent.
When considering this bill and others, please measure it against the "triple aim:"
- Improve the overall health of the defined population.
- Reduce per-capita cost of health care.
- Improve the individual patient experience in terms of clinical outcome, patient safety and patient satisfaction.
If the bill can move us toward meeting these goals, then then we should support it. You'll have me by your side to support you, work for you, and work for a healthier Oregon.
As you continue deliberation on HB 2009 and other bills before you, I urge you to move us toward the health system we need tomorrow, and to see the needed funds as investments toward a better health system.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Address
