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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 18, 2018)
opinion january18 2018 3 An Opinion: Vote YES on Measure 101 By Scott Laird Oregon voters are being asked to approve or reject Measure 101 in a Special Election on January 23. The Measure would approve or reject parts of House Bill (HB) 2391 that creates a temporary tax on insur- ance companies, managed care organi- zations, and some hospitals as a way to fund health care for low income adults, children, families, and individuals with disabilities. HB 2391 would also pro- vide funding to stabilize health insur- ance premiums for Oregon families. If voters reject Measure 101, as many as 350,000 Oregon Health Plan patients will lose access to coverage and some of Oregon’s most vulnerable citi- zens could find themselves without ac- cess to medical care, prescriptions, and other benefits they depend on daily. As many as 1 million Oregonians could be impacted, including 400,000 children, pregnant women, babies, and foster children. Funding for HB 2391 has al- ready been approved in the last Oregon budget. If Measure 101 fails that fund- ing would disappear, the state budget would be underfunded, and legislators will be forced to go back to the drawing board and find a way to make the cuts needed to balance the budget. HB 2391 is a tax on hospitals, yet community hospitals across the state are in support of Measure 101. The list of other groups who have come out in support of Measure 101 is wide ranging and covers Oregonians from all walks of life, including Oregon nurses, pedia- tricians and other physicians, women’s rights organizations, local unions, chil- dren’s rights groups, health care advo- cates, senior citizen groups, educators, faith-based groups, consumer advo- cates, and human rights organizations. The groups speaking out against Measure 101 mostly appear to be indi- viduals and anti-tax advocates. Increasing health care costs continue to be a major concern for citi- zens across our state and our nation. Grid lock in our federal government contin- ues and our representatives in Washing- ton appear to be failing to find any real solution to the issue, while threatening health coverage for children, the elderly, and the disabled. Until the federal government decides to make health care coverage for all our citizens a priority, it is up to individual states to provide protections. Approval of Measure 101 tells Oregon’s most vulnerable citizens that we see them and we care about them. Please join me in voting YES on Measure 101. Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors Chip Bubl Tobie Finzel Karen Kain Dr. Carol McIntyre Aaron Miller Karen Miller Shannon Romtvedt Photography Lily Buchanan Scott Laird Bonamici Leads Opioid Crisis Discussion in Multnomah County Congresswoman brings together Multnomah County District Attorney Underhill, Sheriff Reese, health care providers, and people in recovery Congresswoman Suzanne Bon- amici (D-OR) convened a discussion about the toll of the opioid crisis with Commissioner Sharon Meieran, health care providers, treatment specialists, school counselors, people in recovery, Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Re- ese, and District Attorney Rod Under- hill. “The opioid crisis is taking lives and tearing apart families. We must do more to confront it directly,” said Con- gresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. “Peo- ple from all walks of life and all parts of Oregon tell me heart-wrenching sto- ries of loved ones lost to addiction. It’s important that we hear their stories and learn from them, and also hear from health care providers, treatment provid- ers, law enforcement, and people in re- covery about their efforts to break the cycle of addiction. There is no single so- lution. Local, state, and federal officials must cooperate to address this crisis.” “We’ve made important strides but have much work to do – today’s meeting put the right people at the table to help chart our next important steps in addressing the opioid crisis,” said Eliza- beth White, OrCRM Project Manager at Lines for Life. “Rep. Bonamici is using the leadership and convening capacity of her office to help us all roll up our sleeves and reach our objectives in our efforts to reduce the number of opioids in circulation, improve pain manage- ment, and expand access to addiction treatment and Naloxone. We are glad to be part of this important forum.” “As the opioid epidemic con- tinues to dramatically increase in terms of human cost and health care expense, no greater need exists in this region than for housing units to empower in- dividuals with substance use disorders to break the cycle of drug and alcohol use and homelessness,” said Andy Men- denhall, MD, Central City Concern’s Senior Medical Director for Substance Use Disorder Services. “Folks simply cannot recover when they are sleeping outside.” This was the third discussion the Congresswoman has convened on the opioid crisis, following similar events in Clatsop and Yamhill counties. She will hold discussions in Colum- bia and Washington Counties later this month. The Congresswoman supports several pieces of legislation designed to address the opioid crisis: • The Addiction Treatment Access Im- One year subscription (24 issues) $35 provement Act, HR 3692, to expand medication-assisted treatment • The STOP OD Act, HR 664, to expand prevention, promote treatment and re- covery, and provide training and equip- ment for Naloxone • The Synthetics Trafficking & Over- dose Prevention Act, HR 1057, to better screen foreign illegal opioid imports • The Opioid Immediate Suspension Or- der Act, HR 4073, to restore the ability of the Department of Justice to respond to the growing opioid crisis • Supported $1.6 billion for opioid re- sponse in the last two years and has called for additional investments in these programs Bonamici continued to oppose multiple efforts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act and reduce Oregonians’ access to affordable, high- quality health care. “Across Northwest Oregon, I’ve heard that access to affordable health care is the best first step in combatting the opioid crisis,” said Bonamici. “The Affordable Care Act made great strides in improving access to behavioral and addiction services, but there is still work to do until all Oregonians have access to affordable health care. I’ll continue to work to improve, not limit, access to health care and work together on ways to bring down health care costs.” Vernonia’s Voice is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. Vernonia’s Voice, LLC PO Box 55 Vernonia, OR 97064 503-367-0098 Want to advertise? Have an article? Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com www.VernoniasVoice.com NEW LOCATION Fresh Roasted Coffee espresso • baked goods Open Every Day at 6:00 am Cedar Side Inn 825 Bridge Street 503-429-0214 FULL SPORTS PACKAGE! Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-7 Open Mic Night with Donny 9:00 pm Saturday, January 27 Karaoke with Donny 9:00 pm Saturday, February 17 EVENTS Taco Tuesday from opening until 9pm 3 hardshell or 1 softshell $4.25 Ladies’ Night every Thursday 6pm-close • Free Pool • Free WiFi • Specialty Pizzas iheck our Facebook page for daily specials and upcoming events 756 Bridge Street, Vernonia 503-429-5841 • Specialty hamburgers • 8 Draft beers & mixed drinks • 5 Craft beers on tap • Pool tables & satelite TV • Free Wi-fi • Beer & Kegs to go Sun - Thurs 11 AM - Midnight • 733 Bridge St, Vernonia Sat, Jan. 27 Texas Hold ‘em “BIKER FRIENDLY” Fri - Sat 11 AM - 2:30 AM • 503-429-9999
