The generously health care covered members of Portland's City Club were so disinterested in the moral and economic health care crisis facing our state that despite being told by political professionals in their own forum that health care would be the leading issue in the governor's race, not a single question on health care was asked to any of the three Republican candidates for governor that recently debated before them. Shameful.

However, there is an organization that will go where Portland's City Club members fear to tread, the Oregon Health Forum. On April 21 candidates for governor have been invited to spend more than an hour expressing their views and answering questions about health care. (See details below.) The amount of time devoted to this single topic gives this event the potential to be the most revealing of the candidate's position on health care issues in any venue in our state up to the May 16th primary election.

Carol Robinson, OHF's new managing director, has invited me to participate in this debate. I have accepted her offer to be among the first to ask these candidates a question relating to the Oregon Community Health Care Bill. [Candidates, this is a hint, take note.]

Since I have only one question, let me suggest that some school board member or city or county commissioner in the audience pick up this one: How will your health care plan not just stop the skyrocketing and unstoppable health care cost increases in my public jurisdiction and the $625,000,000 total increases for all public jurisdictions in our state during your prospective term as governor, but actually reduce the total costs, which continue to diminish the quality and quantity of services we provide to our citizens, more effectively than the Oregon Community Health Care Bill?

Since I have only one question, let me suggest that some serious student of the politics of health care in America and Oregon in the audience pick up this one: Ted Kulongoski and Jim Hill have stated that the federal government, not our state government, is responsible for solving Oregon's moral and economic health care crisis by providing affordable health care to Oregonians and Oregon's public institutions. In a televised debate Jim Hill used the term "universal" health care which is widely understood as a code word, like "socialized medicine", for guaranteed, bet the ranch, legislative failure. Please answer this four part question:
I. What is the text of the federal legislation that will provide affordable health care for Oregonians and Oregon's public institutions?
II. Who will sponsor and champion this federal legislation in the congress?
III. When will this federal legislation be likely to pass into law?
IV. How is this legislation better than the Oregon Community Health Care Bill?

Not surprisingly, Ted Kulongoski and Ron Saxton will be no shows. Ted has recklessly abandoned his gubernatorial responsibilities as well as all credibility related to the solution to our state's moral and economic health care crisis by foisting a resolution of Oregon's problem onto the federal government. Ron Saxton wants charitable organizations not any government to pay for those individuals and public institutions that cannot afford health care. However, Saxton is not mentioning this much to his potential base voters, evangelical Protestants, socially conservative Catholics and members of other conservative charitable organizations that under his plan will be expected to donate enormous additional sums of money to keep public institutions and Oregonians out of the gutter. If I were Ted Kulongoski or Ron Saxton I wouldn't show up to talk about health care either.

In addition to this worthwhile gubernatorial debate, the Oregon Health Forum is considering promoting presentations, discussions and debates before its members by those Oregonians who actually have a real plan on the table, like the Oregon Community Health Care Bill, to solve Oregon's moral and economic health care crisis.

Debate Details
[Friday, April 21 breakfast forum, 7:00-9:00 am: "The Gubernatorial Candidates on Health Care"  

Invited Participants: Kevin Mannix, Ron Saxton, Sen. Ben Westlund, Sen. Jason Atkinson, Jim Hill, Pete Sorenson, Gov. Ted Kulongoski  


 This event will be at the Multnomah Athletic Club. You may register online at www.healthforum.org or by calling 503-226-7870. Use the discount code INTRODUCTORY for a reduced rate of $40.]
 

Richard Ellmyer
Oregon Community Health Care Bill author and project champion
President, MacSolutions Inc. - A Macintosh computer consulting business providing web hosting for artists and very small businesses.
Writer/Publisher - Oregon Health Watcher commentary - Published on the Internet and distributed to 15,000 readers interested in public health care policy in Oregon.
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/health.html
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/octoberpoll.html
http://www.goodgrowthnw.org/candidates.html