PIA Oregon Says No to Universal Health Insurance Measure 111
Measure 111 is on the November ballot in Oregon. While specific to Oregon, what usually happens in one of the West coast states — Oregon, Washington and California — also ends up happening at the others.
Here’s a quick explanation of Measure 111: It is the obligation of the state to ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right.
What is missing from that statement is that a yes vote on that “fundamental right” ends up being an amendment to Oregon’s constitution.
PIA Oregon’s Government Relations Committee has been looking into Measure 11 and is concerned about the potential for unintended consequences. Another potential problem is how Oregon’s courts might interpret the intention of the measure should it pass early next month.
To sum up the PIA’s stance, committee chairman, Patrick O’Keefe called it worrisome.
“It’s what Measure 11 doesn’t say that worries me. Would this mean, after all the lawsuits (always a great use of taxpayer money), that the devil is in the details,” O’Keefe said. “What will the implications be? Worse, does this open the door to more aggressive, and disruptive universal healthcare in the future?”
Another concern is that the voters, and state officials who’ll have to deal with the measure if it passes, don’t really understand what is at stake.
“This is way too big of a subject to force the state, and the bureaucrats writing the rules, to have to interpret a not-too-well thought out ‘concept,’” he said.
By the way, if Measure 111 passes, it will make Oregon the first state in the union to put the right to healthcare into its constitution.
Supporters claim this doesn’t change how Oregonians get their health insurance, or who pays for that health insurance. The purpose — they contend — is to reduce the cost of health insurance and copays. Proponents also say the measure is designed to bring down the number of people in Oregon that are uninsured.
Opponents other than the the PIA say this will lead to an increase in the number of people on Medicaid and will probably end up costing Oregon taxpayers billions. They say it also gives individuals who don’t have access to insurance, the right to sue the state.
Legal experts agree that the law — if passed — will give Oregonians without access to health insurance the right to sue.
Source link: OPB — https://bit.ly/3D4gGix |
