January 2010 Newsletter

by | Jan 21, 2010 | We Can Do Better - News |


Executive Director’s Update:
The Train, Derailed or Just Detoured?

If there was ever a month where growing the Archimedes Movement seemed more imperative I can’t think of one. In just the past week, the media has gone from “when will the congressional leadership send a bill to the President’s desk” to today having House Speaker Nancy Pelosi say that the House no longer has enough votes to pass the Senate bill. Did something drastically change in the past week that has made health reform no longer critically needed in this country?

What has changed is momentum, and that’s due to some pretty effective messaging. In essence, the story has changed. We’re no longer hearing about businesses unable to offer coverage because of rising insurance premiums. We’re not hearing about 40-50 million people who lack insurance. And we are no longer hearing the President’s eloquence about the values and principles that drove him to name this one of his top domestic agenda items. We’re hearing that the vote in Massachusetts was a vote to stop federal reform, and we refuse to buy that story.

Regaining Perspective

I had a chance to meet with a group of 20 international visitors who were in Portland with the World Affairs Council of Oregon. They are all experienced social activists in their countries, which included Moldova, Gaza, Slovak Republic, Vietnam, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Israel, Lithuania, Nigeria, Cambodia, Kuwait, Macedonia, Kenya, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Angola, Columbia, and Iraq. They had been in Portland for only three days when we met last Tuesday, and I walked through an overview of how our system of insurance and health care evolved, how the Archimedes Movement has used a set of principles to engage Oregonians to pay attention to this issue, become more informed and to take action when they can – using leverage to make change. We then spent about 40 minutes in dialogue.

After just 3 days in Portland, they had questions about the ballot measure campaign, about the work accomplished so far by the Oregon Legislature, about federal reform efforts, and why Americans are so disappointed in President Obama after only one year. It was an invigorating discussion because of two things. First, they did not have preconceived notions or positions on any of their questions, which allowed for a rich interchange; and second because of how impressed they were to hear of discussion of vision, principles and values, and how you can leverage the work of small groups to influence change.

We still believe that agreement on principles and a framework will reunite all sides of this debate and allow us to find strategies that work. It will require taking the media spin doctors out of the equation. Because if we don’t remove the media’s spin (sometimes believing that their spin is the same as reporting news), we will be stuck in the status quo for some time to come. We would be led to believe that:

  1. the debate over health reform is the equivalent of ending slavery,
  2. that electing a republican senator in Massachusetts changed the majority party’s ability to lead in the House, the Senate and the White House,
  3. that Americans are saying they don’t want health reform.

Many of my colleagues shared thoughts with me in the past week. One said “status quo is status woe.” So, how do we lose our fear of letting go of the status quo? The other sent a quote (and if you know the source please email me so I can attribute it correctly): there is a spectrum that moves from debate…to discussion…to dialogue…and while our culture inculcates us with the value of debating, learning how to dialogue with each other requires something much different from us – a posture of deep listening with an intent to understand.

Whether it was the debate around Measures 66 and 67, implementation of Oregon’s HB 2009, or trying to influence the federal debate – we need more than the point-counterpoint form of debate. It is time to realize that there is more to Oregon than supporters + opposition. We need to learn more than tactics and strategies; we must listen to what the public is truly saying, so that we can create policy that works for all of us, not just some of us. It is time.

Liz Baxter
Executive Director, The Archimedes Movement

Upcoming Events

Archimedes Movement Volunteer Meet-‘n’-Greet
Please join us on February 6th in the Hillsdale neighborhood of Portland.

Ko taku rourou ~ With my resources
Ko tau rou rou ~ And your resources
Ka ora te tangata ~ Everyone will benefit
– A New Zealand Maori Proverb

What does it mean to volunteer for a social change movement? We will review what we are striving to achieve in health reform from the grassroots level, and what it means for you to be a treasured volunteer with the Archimedes Movement. You will meet others and share ideas, generate energy, and build support for one another so that everyone will benefit, as the proverb says.

Who should attend?  Anyone who is new to us; Anyone who has volunteered in the past and would like to re-invest time in the Movement; Anyone who is interested in collaborating with other volunteers to ignite project and activist ideas to keep health reform on track.

RSVP is a must so that we can plan accordingly. Please contact Julie by email at julie@wecandobetter.org or phone at 503-609-0304 to reserve your space and get the details.

Oregon Legislature meeting in February

Continuing to experiment with annual sessions, the Oregon Legislature is expected to begin meeting on February 1 and continue for four weeks. While that doesn’t seem like a very long period of time, each Representative and Senator is allowed to introduce bills. You can see the legislative concepts that have been provided at 2010 Oregon Legislative Concepts.
You can also see the planned Committee schedules (some have already begun meeting) and get on their email lists to be kept informed of committee agendas.

There are several legislative concepts that relate to forward progress on health reform in Oregon that could be worth paying attention to:

  • HB 3632:  Requires Oregon Health Authority to study viability of implementing pay or play system of employer-bases health insurance in Oregon and to report results of study and, if system is viable, proposed plan for implementation to interim legislative committees.
  • HB 3603:  Repeals health insurance premium assessment.
  • HJR 100:  Proposes amendment to Oregon Constitution establishing right of all Oregonians to equal opportunity to lead healthy and productive lives. Establishes obligation of state to ensure every legal resident of state access to effective, medically appropriate and affordable health care. Refers proposed amendment to people for their approval or rejection at the next regular general election.
  • SB 994: Requires Director of Department of Consumer and Business Services to prescribe pilot program in which small employer groups offer healthy behavior dividends that are exempt from rate variation requirements.

In addition, the House Committee on Health Care has several legislative concepts that will not be introduced until the first day of the session, but you can see the Committee’s description of the concepts.

You can get on the email list to receive Legislative committees and hearings updates. After you enter your email address, you will be able to set your subscription preferences.

Oregon Health Policy Board members will meet February 9, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Market Square Building in Portland. The Market Square Building is located at 1515 SW 5th Ave. Live web streaming will be available through the Oregon Health Authority web site.

The nine-member citizen Board serves as the policy-making and oversight body for the Oregon Health Authority. It is responsible for improving access, cost and quality of the health care delivery system, and the health of all Oregonians. OHPB was established in 2009 through House Bill 2009.

Also, you can access audio recordings and materials from past meetings on the board meetings page.

Tue, 02/09/2010 – 8:00am – 12:00pm
Market Square Building
1515 SW 5th Ave.
Portland, OR
Google Map

To receive email notification of Oregon Health Authority events, visit the Oregon Health Division email sign-up page.

Video Project

“Let me tell you what this is really all about…”
Almost fifty Archimedes Movement volunteers participated a couple months ago in a dynamic workshop about health reform messaging and communication. We learned the difference between steeping our conversations in ‘facts’ and honing our communication skills and using language that reflects the values that our fellow Americans can relate to.

As a reinforcing follow-up, The Archimedes Movement is partnering with folks from the Community Health Project on a project to capture values-filled conversation on video so that we may add another instrument to the symphony. If you are interested in learning more about this project and what you can do to get involved in supporting it, please contact Julie by email at Julie@wecandobetter.org or phone at 503-609-0304.

As always, please contact us at the Archimedes Movement if you have any questions about our work.