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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 2002)
i j j i o r t l a t t f c © b s e r v e r __________________________________December II, 2002 PageA 4 Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f The Portland Observer P C i n r i n D ir e c t o Paul Neufeldt u b l is h e r Charles H. Washington ____________ USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0 ___________ Established 1970 A 4 7 4 7 NE M a rtin L u th e r King, Jr. Blvd., F F P ortland, OR 9 7 2 1 1 3 E D I T O K -I N -C H i e r , 1116 P ortland O bserver E D IIO I Michael Leighton D i s r n i i T i a s St 4 n 4 Mark Washington A s s o c ia t e E The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART W ITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. r d it o i Wynde Dyer t W R IT E R , g ï » P h O TO G EAEH EK David Plechl The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Repre sentative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver. P osthastce : Send address changes to Portland Observer PO Box 3 1 3 7 , Portland, OR 9 7 2 0 8 P e rio d ic a l Postage paid In P o rtlan d , OR i Subscriptions are $ 6 0 .0 0 per year server.com ad$@Dortlandobserver com 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 3 3 • FAX5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5 • EMAIL: news@Dortlandobsenier.com subscrÍDtion@j>ery¿ Health Plan Cuts Hurt Those Least Able to Pay by Roy Innis is chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality, a national civil rights organiza tion. R oy I nnis As managed care plans shift more o f their costs onto the backs of consumers, minorities are on no tice that they will face added bur dens. With rapidly rising health care costs, health insurers are launch ing new cost sharing initiatives. ‘C o s t- s h a r in g ’ is code fo r uninsuring or underinsuring the poor and the sick. These health plans have devised new and insidi ous ways to shift costs by drop- ping coverage of an entire class of prescription drugs as soon as one drug in the class is taken over-the- counter. The result: poor people and the chronically ill will have to buy these drugs out-of-pocket. WellPoint Health Networks and Aetna have both stated they in tend to drop coverage or raise co payments of all prescription-only non-sedating antihistamines as a result of Clarkin being approved for o v er-th e-co u n ter sale last It’s often easier to pick out the vehicle . . . 2151 N.W. Front Avenue Portland, Oregon 97209 (503) 299-4539 • (888) 900-8559 www.willamettefcu.com Pleuse send> our cdtiirial m aterial Io neus<" |M»rtlainl<»bsener.c<tin Save Northeast Portland Programs For an answ er you can trust, le t your cred it union help! P illili l l l i ^ Federal Credit Union HMOs may be doing tremendous harm to families who need these plans the most. better ta the (SLditer than the financing! WILLAMETTE place. For an HMO to push these tional burdensome costs shifted month. costs on to poor and sick members, onto the plans’ enrollees, HMOs For A frican-A m ericans and causing them to not get the right will force patients to self-medicate other minority groups, where there medications and miss school or work, by buying their drugs over-the- are higher-than-average propor just to increase their own profit mar counter, effectively severing ties tions of those with allergies and between minority patients and their gin is reprehensible.” lim ite d re so u rc e s, th is treating physicians. Health plans may save money in ‘uninsurance’ could have immedi ate and dangerous implications. For many minority groups, serious al lergies interfere with work and school and, II if not property properly man- scnooi diiu, iu<ui- 1 1 x -Z* • 1 • aged, lead to asthma and other se- vere respiratory diseases. What happens when low-income families, sometimes strugglingjust w — Roy Innis, Congress of Racial Equality to get by, are told they have to buy these drugs out-of-pocket? They HMOs were created to help, not either go without these medications the short run by cutting their anti or they buy cheaper, sedating anti histamine coverage. But in the long- hinder accessibility to the best run, HMOs may be doing tremen medical care possible for those in histamines. Minority children need every ad dous harm to families who need our society most in need. HMOs vantage they can get in and out of these plans the most — those with should not attempt to maximize prof school. Their parents need every chronic respiratory conditions or its by minimizing health care access opportunity to get ahead in the work- other illnesses. Not only are addi- for poor people. Dear Jefferson Caring Community At-Large: tionately hit hard by these cuts if they are passed in ’ On behalf of our JCC Steering Team, I am encour relationship to other parts o f Multnomah County. aging you to email or call our Multnomah County There is still tim e! We encourage you to write email fc Serving all who live, work, worship or attend school in the Commissioners regarding the following proposed and/or hard mail letters to Chair Diane Linn, Commis Portland communities o f Arbor Lodge, Boise, Bridgeton, Buckman north o f S.E. Hawthorne, Cathedral Park, China Town, Concordia west o f N .E. 33rt Avenue, Concordia University, Downtown Portland, East Columbia, Goose Hollow, Humboldt, Irvington west o f N.E. 17th Avenue, Kems, King west o f N.E 24th Avenue, Laurelhurst west o f N.E. 32nd Avenue, Northwest Portland, Northwest Industrial Portland, Old Town, Overlook, Pearl District, Piedmont, Portland Community College-Cascade Campus, Portland Slate University, Portsmouth, Sabin west o f N.E. 24th Avenue, St. Johns, Sullivan’s Gulch west o f N.E. 20th Avenue, Sunnyside west o f N.E. 20th Avenue, University o f Portland, University Park, service cuts and your concerns. sioner Serena Cruz as well as all other commissioners. Vernon, and Woodlawn. The Jefferson Schools Uniting Neighborhood Center at Jefferson High School may be eliminated. Three Touchstone Program positions tliroughout Below are the websites where you can weigh in and comment on the above mentioned: • Diane Linn: diane.m.linn@co.multomah.or.us the county may be eliminated. The very effective Diversion Program and the •LisaN aito:lisa.h.naito@co.multomah.or.us Youth Investment Program may be drastically cut or •M aria Rojo deSteffey: district 1 @co.multomah.or.us •LonnieRoberts:lonnie.j.roberts@co.multomah.or.us be eliminated. This will effect the Northeast Commu nity and Family Service Center Programs located at Self-Enhancement, Inc. African Americans are dying at higher rates than whites from smoking related diseases. North and Northeast Portland will be dispropor- Please Respond Today! Donna Purdy.coordinatoroCJefferson Caring Community Steering Team Forced Sterilizations Bring Apology Governor declares atonement for law that stood for 66 years Every year about 45,000 African Americans die from smoking related diseases. < I on’t have to... * Prevention works, it's never too late to quit. Ask your doctor about smoking related diseases today. It’s our right. “T he tim e has com e to apolo V irginia Gov. M ark W arner in (AP) — G ov. John K itzhaber formally apologized last w eek M ay erected a m em orial to the gize for m isdeeds that resulted for the state’s past eugenics laws first w om an sterilized under eu from w id e sp re a d m isc o n c e p that led to the forced sterilization genics and he apologized for tions, ignorance and bigotry,” V irginia’s participation in eugen said K itzhaber, w ho also pro o f hundreds o f O regonians. “To those who suffered, I say ics, calling it “a sham eful effort.” claim ed Dec. lO as H um an Rights K itzhaber served on the joint Day in O regon. the people o f Oregon are sorry,” T he law w as based on the Kitzhaber said during a ceremony com m ittee that helped repeal the pseudoscientific in me governor s » -----------------—-------------------------------------------------------------- the governor’s m ovem ent office. “Our < called eugenics hearts are heavy that sought to for the pain you prevent people endured.” . considered “un G irls in re fit” or “defec fo rm s c h o o l, tiv e ” from hav people in mental ing children. - Gov. John Kitzhaber institutions and ---------------- ~ A fter 1967, poor women se- lected by w elfare w orkers were O regon law in 1983, when he the O regon law w as chiefly used to sterilize those with m ental ill among the m ore than 2,500 O r was serving in the Legislature. ness or m ental disability. Dozens o f people crowded into egonians subjected to steriliza The goal o f the eugenics laws tions under a law that stood from the governor’s ceremonial office, including several w ho had been was to eventually w eed out any 1917 to 1983. T he apology by K itzhaber the victims of forced sterilization, one considered “feeblem inded, m akes him the second governor to hear Kitzhaber acknowledge insane, epileptic, a habitual crim i to atone for a state’s eugenics the events that “darken the history nal o r sexual pervert w ho is likely to becom e a m enace to society.” of our state institutions.” law s. phe time fras come fo apologize fo r misdeeds that resulted from widespread misconceptions, ignorance and bigotry. Subscribe' Fill out, C lip out ... ,, & Send to: JJartlanb ©bsettwr Attn: Subscriptions PO Box 3137, Portland OR 97208 s u b s c r ip tio n s are ju s t $60 p e r y e a r AAHC JS African American Health Coalition, Inc. 2800 N. Vancouver Avenue-Suite 100 Portland, Oregon 97227 Phone: 503-413-1850 www.aahc-portland.org (please include check with this subscription form) NAME: ADDRESS: Made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1 TELEPHONE: 1
