Voters eye health-care option

A November measure would create universal coverage.

SUSAN TOM
Statesman Journal
October 11, 2002

A sweeping initiative on the November ballot will test just how frustrated Oregonians are with the health care system.
Measure 23 would create a universal health care finance plan to provide medically necessary services to every Oregonian. If passed, Oregon will be the first state to offer free health care to all its residents. The measure would replace insurance premiums, copayments, deductibles and other out-of-pocket patient expenses with a single payer state system financed by payroll and personal income taxes.
Mark Lindgren, chairman of Health Care for All Oregon, the group backing the measure, said the initiative was deliberately written to be vague to avoid potential court challenges. A 15-member board would be created to set limits on health care services and to administer the program.
Laurie Sobel, attorney for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, said the measure would reduce hidden costs and time wasted filing claims by cutting out the middle people, the insurance companies.
“We believe everyone has the right to health care,” Sobel said. “It makes for a healthier community and ultimately leads to lower costs.”
The measure sounds like an improvement over the current system, said Garth Keir of Salem, a former state worker retired on disability.
“It’s not just what you need now but what you may need,” said Keir, 56. “I always subscribe to the idea that we’re all in one big rowboat and we need to row together or sink together.”
But a growing number of opponents, including business, insurance, labor and medical groups like the Oregon Medical Association and Associated Oregon Industries, call the measure poorly written and financially unsustainable. They say it would force repeal of cost-saving worker compensation reforms and reduce money for schools. Estimates are that Measure 23 could cost up to $20 billion annually.
A coalition of health care insurers, including ODS Health Plans, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, Kaiser Permanente, PacifiCare and Providence Health Plan, raised $402,692 so far to defeat the measure.
By comparison, Health Care for All Oregon raised $22,023, mostly from small donations.
David Fiskum, a lobbyist for Oregonians Against UnHealthy Taxes, said the measure not only would give the board unlimited power in issuing bonds and rationing health care, but will create another bureaucracy.
The timing also is bad given the state’s high unemployment rate and sagging economy.
An additional payroll tax will make Oregon a less attractive place for business, said Ken Rutledge, spokesman for the Oregon Association of Hospital and Health Systems.
“They’re being very naive to think there’s going to be adequate money to pay for all services,” Rutledge said.
Barbara Cummings, a Salem small business owner, said more people will abuse the system because there is no incentive to take personal responsibility for one’s health. She expects longer waits, more crowding and a lower quality of health care as a result.
“What happens when money runs out? Will I have to wait six weeks for an MRI?” Cummings said.
Rob Wagner, government relations director of the American Federation of Teachers-Oregon, said the measure is not an ideal fix, but it is a good first step toward.
“I see our members at the bargaining table having to choose between salary increases to keep up with the cost of living or picking up a greater portion of health care costs,” Wagner said.
Universal health supporters Oregon State Public Interest Research Group and Oregonians for Health Security are taking more conservative approaches because they say Oregonians aren’t ready to toss out the current system.
“We’re looking for smaller steps along the way and they’re looking for a leap,” said Rob Manning, spokesman for Oregonians for Health Security. “But if it were to pass, we would definitely be in support of it.”
The reason: more than 400,000 Oregonians don’t have health insurance. One in five lack prescription coverage.
Oregonians aren’t alone in their frustration with sharply rising premiums, lower reimbursements and reduced access. Fourteen states, including California and most recently Texas, are pursuing a single-payer system, according to the Universal Health Care Action Network in Cleveland, Ohio. Oregon could become the testing ground for a health care overhaul.
The problem isn’t new; the Clinton administration tried, but failed to expand health care coverage.
And Gov. John Kitzhaber’s promise of a more expansive system than the Oregon Health Plan to be financed in part by a business tax never materialized.
Critics say the current system provides too few services, costs too much, makes money off the young and healthy and dumps the sick and old.
Dr. Don McCanne, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, said the measure allows more efficient use of health care funds and establishes equity in finance and access.
“It provides more comprehensive services at a cost that is no greater than what Oregon is spending,” McCanne said.
But Dr. Colin Cave, OMA president-elect, said while the organization favors universal health care — it supported the Oregon Health Plan — it won’t back the measure because its approach is unreasonable.
Measure 23 has no limits on what type of health care is necessary, no incentive to coordinate access and no residency requirement.
There’s also no guarantee that 15 people have the necessary sophistication to deal with complex health care issues and manage a budget at least double that of Oregon’s general fund. Getting a federal waiver also is very unlikely.
“It’s very lopsided,” Cave said. “This is not the way to do it.”
But Hanteng Dai of Salem, a 38-year-old state employee, said he supports the measure despite its flaws because it’s the first step toward improving health care for society in the long run.
“Accept the concept first, improve the procedure later,” Dai said. “Don’t kill an idea in its infancy.”
Susan Tom can be reached at (503) 399-6744.