health care Archives

Ballot Measure 101 – Election Forum January 9

COMING SOON: the video recording of the League of Women Voters of Portland election forum on Ballet Measure 101. A shorter Highlights version will follow the full-length recording of the entire forum.

Tuesday, January 9, 2018, from 7 to 8 p.m.,

Multnomah County Board Room, 501 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

Free and open to the public.

The panel will include a speaker to present the factual information on the ballot measure (Peter Graven, OHSU), a speaker for the Yes Campaign (Rachel Solotaroff, CEO of Central City Concern) and a speaker for the No Campaign (Lindsay Berschauer, Oregonians Against More Healthcare Taxes).

Parking is available on the street. Multnomah County Building is easily accessed by public transportation. Trimet options include bus lines 4, 6, 10, 14, 15 and the Portland Streetcar. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Ballot Measure 101. Measure 101 is a Veto Referendum to repeal parts of the bill (HB2391) passed by the 2017 Legislature to provide funding for health care for low-income Oregonians, through a temporary assessment on insurers and some hospitals.

A YES vote retains the funding and the federal matching funds.
A NO vote removes the funding provisions in the bill.

Important dates for this Oregon Special Election:

December 27, 2017 – Voters’ Pamphlet mailed by Secretary of State
January 2, 2018 – Voter Registration deadline
January 3, 2018 – Ballots Mailed
January 23, 2018 – Special Election Day

The forum will be recorded by MetroEast Community Media. It will be available for viewing online via this website and YouTube, as well as on the LWVOR website – www.lwvor.org.

A LWV of Portland speaker on Ballot Measure 101 can be scheduled by sending a request to voterservice@lwvpdx.org. The LWVOR online Voters’ Guide for Ballot Measure 101 is available here.

It’s time to improve Obamacare, not dismantle it

On October 13, League of Women Voters president Chris Carson issued the following statement in response to the White House executive order to end health care subsidies in the Affordable Care Act:

“President Trump’s executive order to end health care subsidies for insurance companies will raise premiums and leave more Americans without meaningful health insurance. These subsidies were put in place deliberately to keep costs down for everyday Americans. Removing them now is a dangerous step toward unraveling a fragile system.

“President Trump is attempting to dismantle the American health care system piece by piece, in the same dangerous and under-the-table manner that the American people made clear to their Congressional leaders is unacceptable.

“We have said many times that the Affordable Care Act is not a perfect law. Congress should work to improve it. The White House should not undo the positive impacts this legislation has had for millions of Americans who previously could not afford health care coverage.”

LWV Statement on Senate Health Care Bill

On June 22, League of Women Voters of the U.S. president Chris Carson issued the following statement on the “Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017” unveiled by Senate leadership:

“The Better Care Reconciliation Act is even worse than the version we saw pass in the House of Representatives and is not worthy of this great nation. The cuts to Medicaid will be massive and will destroy the system that so many Americans rely on…”

Read President Carson’s full statement

The LWV position on Health Care begins “The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that a basic level of quality health care at an affordable cost should be available to all U.S. residents.” Read more here about the League’s study and work on health care issues.