Over the past two weeks we have taken the Archimedes Movement to La Grande, Pendleton, Roseburg, Grants Pass, Medford and Ashland. The meetings we held in these communities were well attended and enthusiastic and I want to offer my personal thanks to everyone who took time to participate. While we were meeting in Grants Pass the temperature hit a record high of 105 degrees (some reported 107). In spite of the lack of air conditioning in the meeting hall, 48 people worked for over two hours to help shape the Vision for a new health care system and to spark the kind of serious national debate we so desperately need.
We are not powerless in the face of a system so huge and complicated that taking it on often seems daunting if not futile. And we proved it over the past few weeks. In meetings throughout the state a broad consensus is beginning to emerge: that all of us must have timely access to effective health services; that continuing to use the emergency room as the only way to access the health care system for a growing number of people makes no sense whatsoever; that the new system must place a high value on wellness and disease prevention; that it should be economically sustainable; that we cannot afford to do everything that medical science has to offer for everyone who might benefit from it; that resources are limited and that priorities must be established; that individuals have a responsibility to make personal choices that will keep them out of the health care system in first place.
This enthusiasm for change, however, is tempered by an understandable concern over how priorities will be established; over what a new system will actually look like; over what it will mean for us an individuals – as consumers, employers, providers or insurers. The current system is familiar even though is it increasingly clear that it is not serving our needs as individuals or as a community. Yet change of any sort is unsettling.
One of the most refreshing things that came out of the meetings over the past few weeks is that people seem willing to acknowledge those concerns up front – to get them on the table — and then make a commitment that we will work through them together. Albert Einstein once said: “You cannot use an old map to explore a new world.” And that is what we are doing here, drawing a new map that will lead us to the kind of system we need and deserve in this country.
We will be summarizing the input from each of these meetings and get it back to you for review and comment. We will also try to incorporate the ideas from all the meeting into a single document as well for you to consider. What we need next is to organized local chapters which can keep moving this discussion and design process forward. If you are willing to start one please let us know so we can help you do it.
Once we have the local chapters in place we can start the process of tying to put all of this into a draft “legislative concept” that we can use to advance our ideas through the legislature and/or on the ballot. We will have another series of meetings later this summer and early fall to work together on this legislative concept. In the mean time, check the website for a local chapter near you and stay involved.
Thank you for your commitment and ongoing support.
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