HCAO News

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Time for a Real Debate on Health Care Reform

Guest Viewpoint, Eugene Register Guard January 10, 2013
by Rick Staggenborg

Medical insurers around the country have announced a new round of double-digit premium increases, belying the promise that Obamacare would reduce costs of health care. Although the “Affordable” Health Care Act is not yet fully implemented, it is reasonable to assume that the further expansion of benefits will dwarf any savings predicted by the error-filled CBO report supporters use to justify the claim. The fact is that the ACA cannot lead to real reform in costs or access to health care. These can only be achieved through truly universal health care in the form of a single payer, Medicare-for-All model or something similar. What ACA amounts to is a taxpayer bailout of a failing medical insurance industry.

People may wonder how the tremendously profitable insurance industry can be failing. They must consider the basic fact that as medical insurance costs rise, fewer people can afford it. Profits drop, forcing further premium increases to maintain profit margins. This is the “death spiral” that single payer proponents have talked about from the beginning of the health care “reform” debate. We were ignored by the corporate media and both major Parties, but emerging facts are confirming our conclusions. It is time that taxpayers demand an honest discussion about the one option for addressing the crisis in health care access and affordability. Congress will continue to avoid this debate if we do not force them to discuss it. We need to make them fear us more than the anger of their political patrons in the medical-industrial complex of the insurance, pharmaceutical and corporate health care provider industries.

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A Day as an HCAO Advocate–Salem, May 13

by Pat Bitner, Eugene

Bus Coordinator and Advocate for HCAO

A very large "Thank You" to all you 34 true believers who came up to Salem on Monday to advocate for HB 2922, Affordable Health Care for All Oregon. For a lot  of us, it was a return visit after our Rally at the Capitol on Feb. 4. 

Monday began early, and earlier yet for the three HCAO activists who drove 65 miles from Florence on the coast to join our bus group in Eugene. On our way, we profited from a presentation and handout from Lou Sinniger, our Eugene group chair. Then we enjoyed the leadership of Debby McGee and Patty Hine as we sang our way north to  lyrics revised from old standards to suit the cause.  A great way to raise spirits and energy for the day ahead!

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Single-Payer Activists Keep Dream of Universal Healthcare Alive

A separate measure, giving state sponsorship of a comprehensive study on universal healthcare financing, makes its way through the Committee on Ways & Means.


by Christopher David Gray for The Lund Report

May 15, 2013 — Wes Brain was uninsured last winter when a tonsillectomy showed signs of throat cancer. He qualified for the high-risk Oregon Medical Insurance Pool, which the state has administered through Regence BlueCross BlueShield.

But gaining access to that insurance soon proved a big obstacle for the Ashland resident, when Regence erroneously told him he hadn’t submitted his driver’s license.

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Instead Of Being More Efficient, Private Insurers' Medicare Advantage Plans Have Cost Medicare Almost $300 Billion More Over The Life Of The Program

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/260424.php

Medical News Today, May 14, 2013

A study published online finds that the private insurance companies that participate in Medicare under the Medicare Advantage program and its predecessors have cost the publicly funded program for the elderly and disabled an extra $282.6 billion since 1985, most of it over the past eight years. In 2012 alone, private insurers were overpaid $34.1 billion.

That's wasted money that should have been spent on improving patient care, shoring up Medicare's trust fund or reducing the federal deficit, the researchers say.

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Insurance isn’t health care

That’s what the ‘Oregon experiment’ really shows

The Register-Guard
Editorial

Oregon’s experience with an expanded Medicaid program is being used as ammunition by all sides in the national debate over health care. Opponents of the Affordable Care Act claim it shows that providing health insurance to more people doesn’t make them healthier. Supporters cite the same data to support the opposite claim. The fog of war over Obamacare has obscured the real message from Oregon, which is that insurance and health care are not the same thing.

Oregon made itself the laboratory for Medicaid expansion in 2008. The state had funds to add 10,000 patients to the health care program for low-income people, but 90,000 met eligibility guidelines. Oregon conducted a lottery to determine who would enroll. The lottery created an unprecedented opportunity for a randomized controlled study — one that can yield statistically valid results.

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Training offered in Social Media

We are having a social media training Saturday May 11 10 a.m.-12 noon.  It will be put on by Lisa Loving of KBOO and Editor of the Portland Scanner. Lisa feels the more people who come to the training the better.  We would love you all to come and invite everyone in your groups. 

The training will be at Robin Cash's house, 6923 NE Morris in Portland.  People who attend will need EITHER a smart phone, and iPad or other tablet with wi-fi capabilities  or a laptop that has wi-fi capabilities.  Robin has wi-fi at her house.

Space is limited, so please contact Robin at this link or at 503 421 6125, so she can have enough chairs!!

IT WILL START PROMPTLY AT 10 AM AND END AT 12!!  (Robin is tabling at the Unitarian Church at 1 and hopes some of you who attend will table with her.) 

Ross Lampert, Organizer
Health Care for All - Oregon
(503) 206-6709 office