What Fuels Oregon’s Health Care Transformation? Lies and Cash

Show Summary: The one thing the many tentacles of Oregon’s health care system have in common: the lies they tell to sell it. This week we expose the many lies told to pass Oregon’s health care transformation, and our predictions that came true. Oregon’s new health care sales tax—Measure 101? Yep. They lied. Plus, a new tax on small businesses—SB 1528B.

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Original Air Dates: Feb. 24 & 25, 2018 | Lisa Lettenmaier

This Week: We’re talking with Lisa Lettenmaier, who, as an insurance agent pays close attention to the entire health industry, especially the insurance trade and health care/insurance costs.  We call on Lisa whenever we hear of legislative actions related to health care that are going to affect your life.

As we predicted and reported on back when the Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) model was first being implemented as part of Oregon’s health care transformation, our legislators had other motives and that  their “cheaper better system would not work using the CCO model.

This week, we check with Lisa about our past predictions about Oregon’s version of Obamacare and where all this is headed.

Health Care as a Human Right

One prediction about was that the Democrats’ real motive was to turn our health care system into a single payer system—also known as “universal health care” or “socialized medicine.” This has been the dream of Oregon’s Democrats since Day One of Oregon’s health care transformation: a slow, steady lurch toward universal health care.

We can tell you that, exactly as we predicted, Legislators are right now in this session are trying to pass universal health care under the mistaken belief that health care is a “human right.”

Here’s reality. It is not a “right” if it depends on someone else providing it to you.

This is not about “rights,” as those who support single payer systems falsely proclaim (including Republican candidate for governor, Dr. Knute Buehler does) it’s about gaining power.  Period.

And with Democrats firmly in control, the high costs of spending on Oregon’s health care transformation isn’t stopping nor will it go down.  Not to mention plenty of other Democrat pet spending ideas. Think “Cap and Trade,” “Carbon Tax”, and “Sales Tax.”  They’re all barreling your way.

Measure 101: They Lied

Remember Measure 101? Oregon’s new health insurance sales tax? Remember how they just needed this little bitty tax to “save” Medicaid? Remember how it was so desperately needed that if they didn’t get it, the poor and elderly would lose their insurance?

Yep. They lied about that too.

Listen to find out where the money from that new sales tax is actually going.

Oregon Democrats Punish Small Businesses

And don’t miss the discussion on yet new taxes, SB 1528B. The Oregon Democrats are working overtime to take away the very tax cuts Trump’s administration worked to get through. It is a tax on small businesses, including farmers and mom-and-pop stores—except for two professions. Tune in to hear who gets the loopholes.

Podcast Version

Links Mentioned

• FamilyCare Says It Will Close Its Doors (The Lund Report, Dec. 15, 2017)
• FamilyCare 2017 Quarterly Balance Sheet
• Oregon’s SB 1528 for 2018
• Oregon’s health care transformation. “Year Zero: Leaders At Oregon’s CCOs Share Lessons From The Early Days” (Health Affairs, Sept 11, 2014)
  • Last sentence of the article, “Perhaps the biggest question, though, is what keeps the CCO model sustainable once grant funding and federal subsidies sunset.”
• OHA releases report demonstrating housing services provided by Oregon’s CCOs (The Lund Report, Nov 4, 2016)
• Oregon Health Authority narrows focus on housing as health care (Streets Roots News, Nov 23, 2016)

Related Links

• Oregon’s failure to justify all Medicaid spending: Editorial (Oregonlive.com May 20, 2017)
• Auditors Pin Medicaid Mess on Oregon Bungling (Oregonlive.com Nov 29, 2017)
• Audit: Oregon properly screens for Medicaid: Problems with manual input remain (The Bulletin, May 24, 2017)
• Oregon’s Measure 101 Turnout Leans Democratic, Pleasing Supporters (OPB Jan 22, 2018)
• Budget crisis, stalled legislation possible if Oregon voters reject Measure 101 (Statesman Journal, Jan 20, 2018)