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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2012)
street roots 2 Aug. 3, 2012 Connect with the worid through Street Roots W Oregon's new Medicaid system a beacon for nation ealth care costs are sucking the life out of Americans. H It’s true. The United States spends more than any other country on health care: More than $2 trillion each year. That’s 17 percent of our GDP goes into health care costs, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and it’s on the rise. Health care costs are rising faster than our earnings. In fact, a U.S. Department of Labor study shows that in the past decade, premiums for employment-based private insurance rose 114 percent. Small and mid-sized businesses digit looking increases in their are at double- If the promise bears coverage costs, which out, Oregon's run with cut into earnings and coordinated care employment organizations will opportunities. The cost has expanded far beyond prove a working access for many template for federal Americans who are now health reform. going without insurance, or preventative care — and without jobs. The Oregon Health Authority estimates 16 percent of the state’s population is uninsured. It is at once a trickle down tragedy and a pyramid scheme we are all paying into, insured or not. On the other hand, the system has also created the irony of the perfect insurance customer: one who has insurance through their employer, but whose deductibles and pharmaceutical costs are high enough to prevent them from using it constructively. Oregon is poised to show the country that there can be a better system, one that actually encourages health care access, rather than discourages its use. The goals to cut costs mean avoiding the failures in the system. That means keeping patients out of emergency departments and win-win. e are excited to be partnering with If you are interested in taking part, go to Hotels4Change and the Street Roots homepage at www.streetroots. International Street Newspaper org and look for the Hotels4Change ad. Network on a new project to help Street Street Roots is one of more than 120 Roots raise money. street newspapers globally. We have street If you are a newspapers in 40 countries, in 24 business traveler or just going on vacation, languages. Street Roots works with the International Network of Street Papers on a DIRECTOR'S Hotels4Change lets variety of projects, including the Street O SSS you to book their News Service, a newswire created to allow hotels through a street newspapers around the globe share By Israel Bayer booking agency that gives Street Roots five content. As the gap between the rich and the poor percent of the continues to grow locally and globally, the purchase. street newspaper movement offers people Street newspapers in Holland and Japan experiencing poverty a hand up and local have used the program for the past year communities a chance to be engaged. We and have offered readers a great deal on are proud of the work we do. Readers are a hotel costs, while also raising more than big part of what makes us successful. We $20,000 a year off the program. It’s a great way for people traveling on vacation, or who can’t thank you enough. live on the road to help Street Roots. It’s a Israel Bayer is the executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach him a t israel@ streetroots.org hospital beds and psychiatric wards. It means keeping them healthy in their homes, and equally important, keeping them informed and engaged in their own wellbeing. It also means that the very real impact of social and economic disparity can be measured in conjunction with a person’s health. By contracting with social service operators, health care providers will have an even greater investment in alleviating the impact homelessness and poverty may have on a person’s long-term wellbeing. If the promise bears out, Oregon’s run with coordinated care organizations will prove a working template for the federal health reform movement. So much so that the federal government has invested $1.9 billion into Oregon’s new system over the next five years, on the basis that the system will improve health and lower costs. We would also hope that it kick starts a new dialogue around health care - one that focuses on the potential of a truly healthy population, rather than political rhetoric and myths of our global superiority in the field. The coordinated care network is a smart move for Oregon, and for the 600,000 Oregonians on Medicaid who will now be enrolled in coordinated care organizations. It has been years in the making, with a constant push by health care and social service advocates at all levels to put a promise into practice. It will not be without its growing pains, but it has the potential to bridge the gap between believing in a functional health care system, and actually having one. Staff Executive Director Israel Bayer a newspaper ana otner meota mat are catalysts for individual and social change. sj< is available exclusively through our street vendors or by subscription. We are proud members of the North American Street Newspaper Association and the International Network of Street Papers. Street Roots 211 NW Davis St. Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax: 503-227-3117 www.streetroots.org www.streetroots.wordpress.com israel@streetroots.org Managing Editor Joanne Zuhl joanne@streetroots.org Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Program Assistant Cole Merkel, Jesuit Volunteer Amen Corps Member cole@streetroots.org Grant Writer Sarah Cloud Accountant Heather Stadick Reporters Amanda Waldroupe, Jake Thomas, Devan Schwartz, Robert Britt, Sue Zalokar Photographers Leah Nash, Ken Hawkins, Kristina Wright Volunteers Mary Pacios, Leo Rhodes, Jan Bayer, Eliese Baker, Sue Zalokar, Michael Moore, Robert Britt, Cynthia Kiehl, Hannah Schultz, Robyn Wirkes, Shannon Lattin Street Roots Rose City Resource Street Roots publishes the Rose City Resource, a comprehensive booklet of services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. To inquire about getting an order of the Rose City Resource for distribution, please write to pdxrosecityresource@gmail.com. Resources are also available online at www.rosecityresource.org. Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.
