Opinion
LABEL
4A
Saturday, June 6, 2020
The Observer
THE COMMON GOOD
COVID-19 pandemic shows U.S. health care lacking
T
he COVID-19 Pandemic
has revealed major defects
in health care in the United
States.
Racial disparities in access to
health care are clear in the dispropor-
tionate deaths from COVID-19 among
African Americans and other people
of color.
BILL WHITAKER
THE COMMON GOOD
Tying health insurance to employ-
ment has failed. Nationally, more than
42.6 million Americans have lost their
jobs. During the first seven weeks of
the pandemic 382,000 Oregonians
filed unemployment claims. In April,
Union County’s unemployment rate
was 19.3%, the third highest in the
state. In Wallowa County, 14.1% were
unemployed. When health insurance
is tied to employment, those who have
health insurance (not everybody does)
often lose it when they lose their jobs.
Health care needs to be seen as a
human right, not an employee ben-
efit. The unemployed have no less need
to visit a doctor or a hospital than do
those with jobs. They are no less likely
to come down with COVID-19, heart
disease or cancer. We need to uncouple
health insurance from employment.
There are 44 million Americans
who have no health insurance — are
not covered by Medicare, Medicaid,
the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare),
the Veterans Administration, Indian
Health Services or other programs.
Another 38 million Americans have
inadequate health insurance. Many of
us who think we have insurance have
such high deductibles and co-pays that
we cannot afford to use our insurance.
We are woefully underinsured.
Americans pay, by far, the highest
prices in the world for prescription
drugs. While the pharmaceutical
industry makes tens of billions a year
in profit and gives their CEOs exorbi-
tant compensation packages, one out of
five of us are unable to afford the med-
icine our doctors prescribe.
Prescription costs are likely to
become even more absurd. The fed-
eral government is providing billions
of our tax dollars to major drug com-
Your views
Miri Koltuv inspires hope for
the future
I would like to express my admiration
and respect for Miri Koltuv for organizing
the Black Lives Matter protests in La
Grande in recent days.
Miri, at 11, you have more courage
and conviction than most adults I know.
Exhausted by the complacency of adults
like me, you’ve inspired me to be more
outspoken with my own convictions.
Knowing that good people like you are
in the world speaking out against injustice,
I have hope for the future.
Christopher Rosevear
Union
Make the change — stand up
for black lives
Why say “Black Lives Matter”? Don’t
all lives matter? It seems to me there is an
unspoken assumption behind these ques-
tions that is based on faulty thinking. The
assumption is that if I say Black Lives
panies as they search for a COVID-19
vaccine. But there is no guarantee that
the new vaccine will be provided free
to the American people. We may end
up paying for the vaccine twice, first
through our taxes funding the research
and second when we purchase the
product. If you can afford the payment,
you stay alive. If not, tough luck.
The COVID-19 pandemic demon-
strates that we need a health care
system that works for everyone, not
just those of us who can afford expen-
sive out-of-pocket co-pays and private
insurance premiums.
There are two steps we need to
take in response to the COVID-19
pandemic.
First, as an interim measure, we
need to pass the Health Care Emer-
gency Guarantee Act (HCEGA) intro-
duced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, New
York-D, (with Oregon’s U.S. Sen.
Merkley-D, as a co-sponsor) and
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, Washington-D.
HCEGA leverages the existing effi-
ciency of Medicare payments to ensure
COVID-19 relief funding goes directly
to patient care, without changing fam-
ilies’ insurance coverage or touching
the Medicare trust fund.
Under HCEGA, the federal gov-
ernment would pay all of the costs of
treatment for the uninsured and all of
the out-of-pocket costs for those with
public or private insurance, for as long
as the pandemic continues. This will
insure that nobody who is sick, regard-
less of income or immigration status,
needs to be afraid to seek the medical
care they need.
Second, when a new congress is
elected and the COVID-19 pandemic
has abated, we need to enact the Medi-
care For All Act. Across the nation
significant majorities of Democrats,
Republicans and Independents support
the expanded health care coverage pro-
posed by the Medicare For All Act.
Medicare for All will guarantee
health care for every person in the
United States regardless of employ-
ment status and eliminate exorbitant
out-of-pocket deductibles, co-pays and
prescription drug prices. Medicare for
All will allow patients to choose phy-
sicians according to their actual health
conditions. It will add dental, vision,
hearing, and long-term care coverage,
which are not included in traditional
Medicare. Medicare for All preserves
access to medical benefits and services
through the Veterans Administration
and the Indian Health Service.
We need health care that priori-
tizes patient care and public health
over lining the pockets of big pharma
and insurance CEOs. As our country
responds to the global coronavirus
pandemic and hundreds of thousands
of Americans lose their jobs — and
as a result, their health care — our
elected officials must ensure that
everyone has access to quality health
care.
About the Author
Bill Whitaker lives in La Grande.
He is professor emeritus of social
welfare at Boise State University. He
taught community organizing, social
policy and planning for 40 years while
serving on national social work edu-
cation boards and state legislative
task forces.
Matter, there must be some other lives that
don’t matter to me. Singling out black lives
for affirmation offends because it leaves
others out. And if I’m not black, I feel
excluded. I call this faulty thinking because
one statement does not negate the other.
If I say Black Lives Matter, it is a state-
ment that can stand alone with no under-
lying assumptions. It doesn’t affirm or
negate any other group. It’s just a state-
ment I wish to make. Do I believe all lives
matter? Of course I do. It’s another state-
ment I could easily choose to make. I could
even say that if all lives matter, then surely
black lives are included in that.
There are times, however, within our
society that it is imperative to affirm that,
within the “all,” Black Lives Matter. We are
in the midst of one of those times.
There are people who denigrate black
lives. Unarmed black men are killed at an
alarming rate. The truth of that is starkly
before us as never before because we all
walk around with cameras in our hands so
actions are being documented. The graphic
images of the death of George Floyd are
seared into our consciousness. We cannot
deny the truth that black lives are in danger.
George Floyd Matters. Ahmaud Arbery
Matters. Black Lives Matter.
The silence has been broken about what
is happening to black lives in America. Let
that reality never be forgotten. Don’t be dis-
tracted by the few who have turned to vio-
lence in the streets. Keep focused on the real
issue of danger to black lives. Don’t let it per-
sist to another generation. Stand up for black
lives. Make the change. Remind our country
over and over that Black Lives Matter!
Colleen Nelson, retired pastor
La Grande
should have prevented the deaths of George
Floyd, Eric Garner, Philando Castille and
thousands of our fellow Americans of color.
Oversight of police by an appointed city
commission is a practical local solution to
facilitating dialogue and reform when the
community believes that trust is broken, but
only 200 of 18,000 local law enforcement
agencies in the U.S. have such a body.
As a candidate for mayor of La Grande,
I support establishing a police commission
similar to the city of Eugene’s, inviting res-
idents and law enforcement officers to pro-
mote a citizen-driven community policing
model to prevent crime.
Police advisory commissions should be
the norm, not the exception, and the hub of
Northeast Oregon can set the standard for
other communities in the region by pro-
viding a forum where residents and law
enforcement collaborate to prevent crime
and promote public safety. The time to fight
for a better community is now, and this
local victory is within easy reach if we the
people join hands and demand action.
Alex McHaddad
La Grande
Criminal justice reform is
within our reach
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “A
riot is the language of the unheard.” As a
civil servant, I see Dr. King’s wisdom play
out regularly, and I have learned to address
anger by listening and collaborating to
reform systems that my community believes
to be unjust.
This week, hundreds of our neighbors
took to the streets of La Grande to protest
in favor of the criminal justice reforms that