Local Solutions Can Work for America's Health Crisis

Healthcare professionals all over America are becoming frustrated with the inability of our current system to provide treatment for those who need it.. This so frustrated one Pennsylvania doctor that she quit her practice and sold her own home to open a clinic for the uninsured.

Pheonixville, Pennsylvania physician, Dr. Lorna Stuart, sold her own house, quit her practice and, with friend Reverand Marie Swazye, raised $400,000.00 to turn Reverend Swayze's dilapidated Victorian parish mansion into ""The Clinic: Medical Center for the Uninsured," which has already provided 40,000 free or low-cost visits to patients for primary medical care across eight specialties. The clinic charges patients a sliding scale based on income. "Since there's no need to spend a lot of time doing paperwork, we have time to talk to the patient and really hear what they're saying," says Stuart. "So the patients go away feeling they've been heard, that they've been helped." (CNN, "So Many People Fall Through The Cracks,")

Closer to home the "WhyNotPortland" campaign seeks to provide healthcare for all of Portland's school children . Like any other political initiative or campaign we need funds and volunteers to function. If you can spare a little time to collect some signatures ( family and friends ) on one of our petition sheets please visit our action page and sign up as a volunteer. If you can spare a financial contribution no matter how small please visit our home page and follow the 'Donate" link.

OHSU Study Finds Cuts to Oregon Health Plan Increase Trips to Emergency Room

A study by the Oregon Health Sciences University found that visits to the emergency room by uninsured patients increased about 50% betwen 2003 and 2005, following cuts to the Oregon Health Plan in 2003. Rates for insured patients did not increase.

"While emergency hospitalizations for uninsured patients increased by 50 percent, rates for other groups remained about the same," said Robert A. Lowe, M.D., director of the OHSU Center for Policy and Research in Emergency Medicine. "This suggests that uninsured patients seeking care at emergency departments after the cuts were sicker."

("OHSU Study Finds Increase in Emergency Department Visits by Uninsured Following OHP Cuts,")

Preventative care is cheaper than the emergency room. A visit to a doctor's office for a child's cough may result in a bill in the area of $100, not counting the cost of a prescription. A trip to the emergency room, after that child's cough has turned into pneumonia, will run in the area upwards of $1,000.00, and never mind seperate bills for the doctor, the lab or prescriptions, possibly another $800 to $1,000.00.

If you don't have the $100 and can't find it, you try to treat things yourself. Sometimes that works, sometimes you really must see a doctor. There's not much more horrible for a parent than to watch your baby suffer with a 106F fever and agonize over where you can take them to see a doctor, or wonder at the emergency room whether not getting them to a doctor earlier will result in their death during this visit.

Providing good preventative care to Portland's children will result in lower healthcare costs and better quality care for all Portlanders. Hospitals will not be required to waste valuable staff and other resources on as many emergency room calls and will not lose as much money. Healthy children do better in school and are more likely to become successful adults, more likely to contribute well to society.

Read the OHSU study HERE.

WhyNotPortland Campaign In The News!

Here is a roundup of recent press coverage of the initiative campaign, some of it favorable and some of it neutral. As the campaign progresses the temperature of the debate is bound to increase. But whatever the rhetoric the issue remains a simple one. Do we want Portland's schoolkids to have health insurance or do we not? Those of us who support this initiative should not allow ourselves to be distracted from this basic issue of principle.

A band-aid for school kids' skinned knees?

The Southwest Community Connection

02/01/2008



Jewish tradition inspires doctors to launch drive to insure school children

The Jewish Review

02/14/ 2008



Initiative aims to have insurance for students
The Oregonian/Oregonlive.com

01/15/2008

Health Initiative Questions & Answers

Today more than 9000 kids can’t see a doctor in Portland. They are our neighbors, our relatives, the classmates of our sons and daughters. They’re the kids of hard-working parents whose employers don’t provide health-care and whose modest income makes them ineligible for Medicaid and the Oregon Health Plan. They’re the unprotected kids in our community who are falling through the cracks

We believe that every child deserves access to a good doctor. Our initiative will provide low-cost, quality medical coverage for all the children of Portland public schools. With the city of Portland projecting a budget surplus of $39 million, we have the resources to do it. Further, the $4 million annual cost can be offset by the $7,000 the city gets from the state of Oregon for every new student who enrolls in a Portland public school. This means no new taxes are required to put this critical plan into action.

What is the Initiative?

This is an initiative filed for the City of Portland to provide health insurance to uninsured children in Portland.

When is this happening?

We need to collect 27,000 signatures by the end of June to put this on the November, 2008 ballot. If approved it would take effect February 1, 2009.

Who would be affected?

The measure would provide low cost health insurance to approximately 9000 currently uninsured children attending public schools in Portland. Insurance would be provided by existing private insurers after competitive bidding.

Are new taxes being asked for?

No new taxes are requested or needed for the measure. The estimated $4.05 million annual cost would be paid for the first two years out of the City of Portland’s expected $33 plus million surplus. Starting in the third year, each school district in Portland would pay for 66% of their students’ costs. The under $500 cost per student will be covered by attracting more students to the district with the promise of health insurance. Each new student enrolled in a school district brings in about $6500-7000 more dollars from the State of Oregon. Thus, the program should be largely self funding.

Is this an unfunded mandate? `

Are school districts locked into this program?

No. Each school district could choose not to offer the program after the first two years if it proves too costly. Moreover, the measure is funded by attracting more of the tax dollars that Portland currently sends to the State by attracting more families to settle in Portland and to send their kids to the public schools.

Wouldn’t this measure cause more families to choose to live in the City of Portland?

This is one of the goals of the initiative. Portland needs to have families and children as part of its mix in order to remain a diverse and vibrant city. The Portland schools need to continue to serve the needs of the vast majority of the city’s children in order to continue to receive the financial support of the city’s population.

What about children outside of Portland or outside of the Portland schools

We don’t claim that this solves the needs of all children in Oregon. While we believe that everyone should have health insurance in the state and throughout the United States, we are trying to make a difference at a level where we can have an impact.

Is a more ideal plan possible?

Yes. We believe that this is something that is doable now while a larger solution is being worked on.

How can I help?

We are pursuing signature gathering both by a volunteer effort and by hiring paid signature gatherers. Volunteers are needed both to gather signatures and to help with the other details of the campaign; financial contributions are very needed to pay for the paid signature gathering. Contributions should be made to WhyNotPortland, our campaign committee.

Where can I get a copy of the initiative?

The text of the initiative is available at our website, www.whynotportland.org.