Kulongoski Gets Health Care Plan Wrong - AGAIN

This week candidate for governor Ted Kulongoski proposed to solve Oregon's moral and economic health care crisis by raising taxes so that a small constituency of Oregonians could get some kind of health insurance.

Two weeks ago governor Ted Kulongoski proposed to solve Oregon's moral and economic health care crisis by commissioning yet another health care study by three committees to be completed in five years - conveniently after the next governor's term of office.

For the last year or so, governor Ted Kulongoski proposed to solve Oregon's moral and economic health care crisis by asking public school employees to join a group health insurance pool. He failed.

So the question arises: Who is giving Ted Kulongoski such incredibly bad advise on health care policy and why is Ted Kulongoski taking it?

NO GROUP, be it public employees, children, women, men, residents of Portland, Bend, Astoria, Coos Bay etc., senior citizens et al. DESERVES better health care coverage than any individual Oregonian.

The governor of Oreogn has a responsibility to address the health care needs of almost three and a half million Oregonians and Oregon's hundreds of public institutions NOT one or two small selective constituencies. During the next governor's term in office, $625,000,000 will be spent by public institutions in INCREASED health care costs. This is a problem of the whole NOT its parts.

These are the moral and economic problems, caused by a failure of the federal government and the private insurance industry, which must be acknowledged and addressed by every candidate for public office in Oregon, especially candidates for governor:
A. Huge numbers of Oregonians have no health insurance.
B. Huge numbers of Oregonians pay for such costly health insurance that they can afford little or no actual health care.
C. All of Oregon's public institutions are facing skyrocketing and unstoppable increases in health care costs which significantly diminish the quality and quantity of services that need to be provided to the public.

Oregonians seriously interested in solving our real health care crisis would be foolish to support much less vote for any candidate that is unable to recognize our moral and economic health care crisis nor see the solution, the Oregon Community Health Bill, which has been on the public table for more than a year and endorsed by one enlightened gubernatorial candidate, Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson.

The Oregon Community Health Bill is a politically centrist solution to Oregon's health care crisis capable of attracting support from left and right, Republicans and Democrats, urban - suburban - rural because it:
1. Is the most market driven health care plan in America.
2. Removes the burden from businesses of providing health care and places it on the state of Oregon.
3. Reduces health care costs to public institutions in Oregon by 20%.
4. Provides actual health care not just health insurance.
5. Eliminates the term, "preexisting condition." If the procedure is covered you're covered.
6. Provides affordable health care - on a sliding scale according to income - as good as that received by any public employee in Oregon to anyone willing to make a commitment to Oregon for one year as a registered voter.

It is time for registered voters who are Democrats as well as the rest of Oregon to recognize that Ted Kulongoski has repeatedly failed the health care test for governor. That alone is sufficient reason to deny him another term in office.

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 6000 readers interested in public health care policy in Oregon.
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