Health Chaos Ahead

May 2, 2013

By DAVID BROOKS, Op-Ed Columnist
Published in the New York Times: April 25, 2013

It was always going to be difficult to implement Obamacare, but even fervent supporters of the law admit that things are going worse than expected.

Implementation got off to a bad start because the Obama administration didn’t want to release unpopular rules before the election. Regulators have been working hard but are clearly overwhelmed, trying to write rules that influence the entire health care sector — an economic unit roughly the size of France. Republicans in Congress have made things much more difficult by refusing to provide enough money for implementation.

By now, everybody involved seems to be in a state of anxiety.

As I see it: Health care is a steeper fiscal cliff and a danger to us all

January 14, 2013

Corvallis Gazette-Times
January 10, 2013 9:10 am • By BUD LAURENT

Washington has come up with at least a temporary detour around the so-called “fiscal cliff,” but they have done nothing to solve the personal/familial fiscal cliff that millions of Americans have gone over, and will continue to go over, until we get serious about the economic problem that has been spiraling out-of-control for decades now: health care costs.

Medical debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in America. A 2012 study released by the American Journal of Medicine finds a huge increase — nearly 20 percent —in medical debt-caused bankruptcies between 2001 and 2007.

Sixty-two percent of all bankruptcies filed in 2007 were tied to medical expenses that individuals and families couldn’t afford.

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Alliance of Communities of Color Announce Health Equity 2013 Agenda

November 13, 2012

Communities of Color and new Immigrant and Refugee Voter Turnout Raises Bar for Racial Equity

Salem, Ore. -- In Oregon, a new alliance of communities of color, immigrants and refugees unifying organizations and advocates across the state announce their Health Equity Agenda for 2013 and Kickoff Event 6:00 PM Thursday November 29th, 2012 at the Irvington Covenant Church in NE Portland.

The Oregon Health Equity Alliance (OHEA) works to improve the well-being and prosperity for all Oregonians through policy advocacy that addresses the root causes of health disparities, improving care and lowering costs. Member organizations helped register over 8,500 new voters, educate voters on key issues and increase turnout. “The demographics of Oregon have changed and our communities can no longer be ignored” says Kayse Jama of the Center for Intercultural Organizing, adding, “we expect our elected officials to address the needs of all Oregonians”.

Am I My Brother's Keeper? Why pay for health care for the undeserving?

October 18, 2012

By Samuel Metz, MD

My brother-in-law Max has smoked since he was 12 years old. Now he’s turning 40 and hates the miserable habit. His many efforts to quit reduced his three-pack a day habit to one, but he still can’t kick the addiction. Meanwhile, his many years of low-paying jobs, if they offered any benefits at all, provided him only with high-deductible health insurance he couldn't afford to use. He hadn’t seen a physician in years. But last month he went to the emergency room with a hacking cough that kept him awake for two nights running. The ER people gave him three pieces of bad news: (1) he’s got an advanced lung cancer requiring an operation he can’t afford, (2) the only hospital that will admit him is the county hospital funded with tax dollars, and (3) the multi-hundred dollar emergency room bill is more than he can pay.

Question: Should we spend our hard-earned tax dollars on Max’s operation? Or should Max go without health care because, after all, his bad decisions had allowed the disease to go undetected for so long and caused the cancer in the first place?