Oregon's health-care debate so far this year has been dominated by just two questions: How many more people will get coverage under state-supported programs? And who will pay for it?
But the answers lawmakers come up with this session for some related questions may shape how much all Oregonians pay for coverage in the future and how that care is delivered.
How those questions will be answered by the Oregon Legislature and U.S. Congress still is uncertain — and may not be answered for a few more years while more information is gathered and different approaches are tested.
Yet at a meeting last week of the Oregon Health Reform Collaborative — which includes most of the state's major health-care participants, plus the Oregon Business Association and the Oregon Business Council — the consensus was that the status quo is no longer acceptable.
Employer-based coverage, which has been the mainstay of health insurance in the United States for 60 years, now is declining as costs continue to increase and employers shift costs to employees, reduce benefits — or simply drop coverage. Workers who lose their jobs often cannot afford to continue insurance, although recent federal subsidies may help them.
"People are more ready for change than we think," said Liz Baxter, executive director of the Archimedes Movement, founded by former Gov. John Kitzhaber in 2006 as a citizen voice for change. "Even people who have good insurance today have no confidence they are going to have it tomorrow."
