Health Care Reform Actions

Help Support OSPIRG's Campaign for a Healthy Oregon

Oregon is coming up with a big health care reform plan between now and October 2008.

In June 2007, the Oregon State Legislature passed the Healthy Oregon Act (SB329). This law mandates the development of a plan for making sure all Oregonians have access to quality, affordable health care. It required the governor to appoint a 7-member board, and the board to appoint committees, all to come up with the plan. It also set a set of quite strong goals and principles about health care access, cost and quality.

In September, Gov. Kulongoski appointed the 7-member Oregon Health Fund Board. The Board will be advised by 6 committees. OSPIRG's Laura Etherton has been appointed to the financing committee, which in addition to proposing the financing of the overall healthcare system, is charged with proposing a framework for a health insurance exchange.

We want the Board to consider the package of solutions we have developed, in conjunction with patients' groups, doctors, nurses, small business owners and industry experts.

Send an email to the Oregon Health Fund Board! You can send the sample letter below, or customize it however you would like.

Follow these 3 easy steps to help out.
1. Look over the message below, and feel free to add your own comments. Using your own words makes the message more meaningful.
2. Sign the letter by filling in the form below. We will not share your information with anyone else.
3. Click the button to send your message.

Letter	To the Oregon Health Fund Board: I am grateful that Oregon’s leaders are tackling the health care problem. As you develop a proposal to fix the system, I urge you to use the following principles: 1. Reduce costs. There are many ways to do this, one important way is to give consumers more market power by allowing the state to negotiate drug costs and insurance premiums. 2. Improve quality. Please set a standard benchmark of care and customer service that every healthcare plan must provide. 3. Increase access. End the practice of denying sick and old people health coverage, while ensuring those who can’t afford a private plan can enroll in the Oregon Health Plan. 4. Pay for it fairly. Everyone - consumers, businesses, doctors, insurance & drug companies, and hospitals – should pay the costs of overhauling the system, based on what they can afford. Thank you,
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Tell us your health care story!

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Tell Us Your Personal Story
Do you have health insurance?	Yes No

Help collect health care story from your campus!

We’ve all had them or know someone who has: a time when we’re weren’t able to get the medical attention we’ve needed because we don’t have health insurance.

The time for a massive overhaul of Oregon’s broken healthcare system is upon us, and we need your help telling the special board set up to do it exactly what Oregonian students think about health care.

Students across the state have staged photo-petitions like the one on this page to collect visual horror stories and showed films like Sicko and collected video health care horror stories from audience members afterwards.

We’d like to help you stage an event on your campus to collect health care horror stories. Fill out the volunteer form below, and an OSPIRG organizer will contact you to help plan your event.

All health care horror stories will be taken straight to the Oregon Health Fund Board next meeting to make sure our decision makers fix the problems we see every day as students. Help Oregon rewrite these horror stories this year!”

First Name
Last name
Address
City
State
Zip
Email
College (if a student)
Do you have health insurance?	Yes No
Graduation Year
Tell us your personal health care horror story
Briefly describe an event you’d like to plan to collect health care horror stories.