» Join me at the Portland area-wide meeting The Eastside Portland Chapter is hosting an area-wide meeting of Archimedes Movement supporters on Monday, May 21st at 7 PM at the Friendship Masonic Lodge in Portland. This beautiful historic structure will hold a crowd, so please join us. After giving an update on SB 27, we'll discuss upcoming strategies and options to move our health reform effort forward. When: 7 PM, May 21 Where: 5626 NE Alameda (one block north of Sandy Blvd.) » View Google Map

Dear Archimedes Member,
 

Congratulations to the hundreds of people who contacted their legislators about a work session on SB 27 - the Oregon Better Health Act. The work session was held on Monday April 30 and the Senate Special Committee on Health Care Reform adopted our amendments and voted to send the bill on to the Ways and Means Committee. We have posted the amended version of the Oregon Better Health Act and a summary which highlights the Structure and the Process established by the legislation.

Many Archimedes members from chapters all over Oregon came to Salem for the work session and had a chance to speak to committee members after they adjourned. The vote was 5 - 0. Special thanks go to Senator Betsy Johnson for being the chief sponsor of the bill, and to committee co-chairs Senators Alan Bates and Ben Westland for scheduling the work session and voting for the motion to send SB 27 to Ways and Means. Thanks also go to Senators Bill Morrisette, Frank Morse and Jackie Winters for supporting the motion. You were heard and your involvement made a difference.

As I mentioned in my blog on April 11, AARP has raised concerns about including Medicare in our process. We have tried to address those concerns in the amendments to SB 27. For the last six months, I have been corresponding with Bill Novelli, the CEO of AARP, about out work. Indeed, I traveled to Washington, D.C. last September specifically for the purpose of beginning that conversation.

Several weeks ago I sent Mr. Novelli a copy of the latest amendments to SB 27 and he asked one of his staff to respond. Because I felt the response suggested that there still remained some misunderstanding about what we are trying to achieve through the Oregon Better Health Act, I sent another letter to Mr. Novelli last week in an effort to further clarify our objectives. I read this letter into the record Monday evening at the work session on SB 27.

Here, I think, is the misunderstanding. With the amendments adopted on Monday, what AARP is opposing is simply a process; an opportunity for Oregonians to engage and to discuss the future of their own health care system - including what changes might be called for to improve and sustain the Medicare program. The Archimedes Movement does not disagree with the fact that Medicare reform and policy development should take place at the national level. Indeed, that is the only place it can occur.

But we also feel that the citizens of Oregon have a legitimate role in that process; that it is entirely appropriate for Oregonians to recommend to their congressional delegation how they would like to see the problems facing their health care system addressed. We cannot change - nor are we seeking to change - Medicare at the state level. What we can do is to engage people in the kind of open, honest discussion of the future of our health care system which is increasingly difficult to do inside the beltway.

The Archimedes Movement is working to protect the health security of all Oregonians - including those on Medicare - through a process in which all Oregonians can take part in designing a new health system which meets their needs today and in the future. We hope AARP will join us as partners in this effort as we move forward. AARP is an important organization with much to offer. What we in the Archimedes Movement can bring to this partnership is commitment, a trust in the wisdom of the people of this state and the belief that together we can do better.

It will be several weeks before SB 27 will be taken up by the Ways and Means Committee and we still have a lot of work to do. Building the Archimedes membership remains our top priority. Our ability over the past month to make sure that every senator heard from their own constituents about SB 27 made a huge difference. We need to keep building that capacity. You can help by getting your friends and family to join the Archimedes Movement. We've set up an easy web form where you can quickly send your message.
» Send a message to your friends now

Last week I met with chapter members in Corvallis and I will be doing the same on May 21st in Portland. The East Portland Chapter has invited all Archimedes Movement supporters to the meeting.

As we move though the rest of the legislative session we're looking for more opportunities for us to get together and talk about strategies in different communities around the state. I hope you will join us in those discussions.

John