Talking to Your Legislator
(or candidate)

Discussing the Universal Health Plan with legislators and candidates in your community

Click Here to Find Your Legislator

Information on this page available as a PDF.
Contact legislation@hcao.org for help!

Setting Goals for Your Meeting

• Build a relationship with legislator or candidate.

• Assess their view on healthcare financing and, if possible, single payer.

• Let them know your position on healthcare finance reform/single payer.

Arrange the Meeting

• Remember: these are citizen legislators and you are a citizen.

• Find your legislator contact info here.

• Once you’ve identified your district numbers for House and Senate, you can search Ballotpedia to learn more about legislators/candidates or go to their website.

• Contact the legislator/candidate by email or phone.

• Identify yourself as a constituent concerned about healthcare and/or public health policies.

• Request and schedule appointment to meet at office or agreed on community location.

• Ask how much time is available; request 30 minutes (but you may only get 5-15 minutes).

• Contact legislation@hcao.org for help.

Develop Meeting Plan

• In an initial meeting: Listen, Assess, and Inform (don’t focus on convincing).

• All you need is YOU, but it is even better if 2-3 people go together.

• Designate someone to take notes.

• Prepare a brief summary of why you care about healthcare and healthcare financing, including a personal story.

Prepare Materials to Leave Behind

• Have written materials available to leave with the legislator/candidate.
  You might want to include:

  • Written personal story and your contact information

  • Health Care for All Oregon Brochure: English  Spanish

  • Reference to the 2022’s Measure 111, which amended the Oregon Constitution (See Article I, Section 47) establishing a state obligation to ensure every Oregon resident has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate, and affordable health care.

  • Reference to Oregon Senate Bill 770 creating the Joint Task Force on Universal Health Care (JTFUHC) who have submitted their recommendations to the legislature to establish the Universal Health Plan Governance Board.

  • Reference to Oregon Law Chapter 712 (2013) describing the best system for financing and delivery of health care.

  • NPR interview with Steven Brill, detailing the failings of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the need for healthcare transformation.

Have the Conversation

Introduction Phase

• Briefly introduce yourself and others attending.

• Verify how much time is available.

• Explain the purpose of your meeting: as a constituent you are concerned about how an insurance-based healthcare system is costly and creates access problems that impact the ability of people to get the care they need when they need it.

• During the meeting, look for personal connections or common interests.

• Advise that you are taking notes, and that you have materials to leave with them.

• Briefly tell your personal story with short review of your written summary.

Listening Phase

• Let the legislator/candidate talk and tell own personal stories about healthcare.
  (Be aware of rambling conversation.)

• Acknowledge that these stories are so true and frequent that we need to look at the bigger picture

• Ask questions rather than making statements.

• Listen to the legislator's/candidate's perspective on the health care system. For example, “I/we have come to get your perspective on the current health care system. What do you think is working, and what is not?”

• What are the person's thoughts about costs for health care?

• What paths do they foresee in containing costs while giving patients the care needed?

• How do they view preventive care and public health in this area?

• Is the person aware of the Rand Study and/or the Joint Task Force on Universal Healthcare report and recommendations? If aware of the Study or the Task Force, what thoughts do they have about these?

• If conversation takes you there, what do they think about a Single Payer System? (Facts and statistics may not be as important at this point as building relationship and understanding how the legislator/candidate thinks.)

End Phase

• Offer to provide or follow-up with materials, as needed.

• Let them know that you believe that the Universal Health Plan and Single Payer is the right way to go.

• If they are inclined to support the Universal Health Plan and Single Payer, what role would they play in the legislature to help achieve this?

• Ask if there are any questions. If you do not know the answer, say so and offer to find the answer and get back to them.

• Thank them for the meeting.

After the Meeting

• Write a hand written thank you note signed by all at the meeting

• Keep a record of what was said at the meeting, especially noting any commitments the legislator/candidate made in the meeting

• Report your meeting findings to HCAO

• If there are requests for more information, make sure to follow up.

Some Talking Points

1. Everybody In! Nobody Out!

2. No more deaths due to not enough or no health insurance.

3. No more foreclosures because of medical bills.

4. No more medical postponements resulting in worsening conditions.

5. Stop market based inflationary medical practices.

6. Choice of medical provider.

7. Reduce administrative costs.

8. Reduce employer costs.

9. No more out of pockets, high deductibles, co-pays, and limits.

Additional talking points and information is available in the HCAO Messaging Toolkit.