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®I|e ‘JporHanò (Observer
O pinion
71,6 Portland Observer
lanuary 01. 2003
Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the
views o f The Portland Observer
E O IT O
H -I N -C H i e r , P C I
L I S H [
I
C I H
T I V l
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I » K C T O K
Charles H. Washington
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Seniors, Disabled at Grave Risk
If state does not raise revenues, life-sustaining services will end
BY Dos B utsch
The Governor’s Commission on
Senior Services finds it hard to be
joyful as the New Year approaches
when we know tens of thousands
of seniors and people with disabili
ties are gravely at risk because of
the state’s budget crisis.
If the state does not raise rev
enues, these frail seniors and
people with disabilities will lose
critical, life-sustaining services.
These are people w ho cannot
bathe them selves, cannot shop
or cook, cannot w alk w ithout as
sistance or m ust use a w heel
chair. Many cannot even feed
them selves or use the bathroom
with out substantial help.
M any are iso lated , w ithout
friends or family to depend upon.
These individuals are among the
poorest of the poor in Oregon. They
have had to survive on meager in
comes or have spent down all of
their hard-earned savings, and have
nowhere left to turn except to the
state.
W ithout M edicaid paym ents,
nursing homes and other care fa
cilities will be forced to move needy
residents out o f their facilities.
econom y. Thousands o f caregivers
who help seniors and people with
disabilities in their own home will
lose their jobs. This only deepens
O regon's recession and will delay
any recovery.
Thousands o f caregivers who help seniors and
people with disabilities in their own home will
lose their jobs. This only deepens Oregon’s
recession and will delay any recovery.
—Don Butsch, chalrof the Governor’s Commission on Senior Services
Many o f these seniors and people
with disabilities will have nowhere
to go. Even worse for the state’s
economy is that for every two dol
lars we cut from programs that serve
seniors and people with disabilities
we lose an additional three dollars
from the federal government. Fa
cilities will need to lay off staff,
creating a horrible ripple effect on
the rest of the community and the
A
in this county. Other critical im
pacts due to the proposed budget
cuts include: Elimination of critical
mental health services to 10,400
individuals; Reducing payments to
foster homes which care for abused
and neglected children, Curtailing
services that help welfare families
find jobs.
The Oregon Legislature, over
five special sessions, required the
cutting o f these critical services
rather than developing new rev
enue sources. Many o f these cuts
are scheduled to start on Feb. 1.
We urge Oregonians to contact
your legislators to say how you feel
about these distressing cuts and to
urge them to solve the stat's bud
get problem s before these cuts
become a reality. We must do some
thing before it is too late.
We are not the little boy crying
wolf. These dire predictions are true.
Not a single county will be spared
the impact o f these catastrophic
cuts. For example, in Multnomah
County 3,976 seniors and people
with disabilities who need helpevery
single day will be eliminated from
Don Butsch is chair o f the
services. This equals 53 percent of Governor's Commission on Senior
die Department of Human Services’ Services, a 21-memberofficialad
current senior and disabled clients visory body on senior issues.
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Title, Author & Outline of Editorial:
Support Wyden-Hatch Health Care Act
Setting health care priorities and mandating a vote makes sense
The American Association of
Retired Persons, the AFL-CIO and
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
support the Health Care that Works
for All Americans Act, written by
Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore. and
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
The W yden-H atch proposal
calls for a national discussion of
health care priorities and mandates
a Congressional vote on health care
legislation that springs from the
recommendations of the American
people.
In accepting the endorsement,
Wyden said, “After years of health
care reform proposals from Wash
ington, D.C. that die without Con
gressional action, it’s time for a fresh
approach to creating a health care
system that can serve all Americans.
By providing the public an opportu
nity to participate, with a guarantee
that it will be quickly followed up by
Congressional votes. Congress can
break the gridlock. The Chamber, the
AFL-CIO and AARP are an extraor
dinary coalition that has come to
gether to support this unique, care
fully structured roadmap to real re
form.”
The Health Care that Works for
All Americans Act is designed to
help the citizens o f this country
face the realities o f the health care
system and improve it by allowing
regular Americans to discuss the
kind of health care system they
want, decide the best ways to con
tain cost and improve care and re
quire Congress to deliver a plan
that works for everyone. AARP,
AFL-CIO and the U.S. Chamber
noted the proposal ’ s two main com
ponents - public participation and
a guaranteed vote in Congress - in
their statement of support.
After the American people have
had the opportunity to participate
directly in this process and the
working group [established by the
Act | has compiled its recommenda
tions, the W yden-Hatch bill pro
vides a guarantee that Congress
will consider the proposals.
The United States spends ap
proximately 15 percent o f its gross
domestic product on health care.
This country spent $ 1.4 trillion on
health care in the year 2001 - a 10
percent increase from the previous
year. Health insurance costs have
risen sharply, making health cover
age harder to get and harder to keep
for millions of Americans.
The Wyden-Hatch proposal is
built around the idea that the ques
tions o f what constitutes effective
health care and how that care should
be financed should not be avoided
any longer.
“I believe that at the end o f the
day, only the citizens o f this coun
try can make the fundam ental
choices that affect their health and
their well-being - and health and
well- being of the society in which
they live,” said Wyden. “What
Senator Hatch and I want to guar
antee is that their voices will be
heard - and that this Congress will
act, with a mandatory vote in both
houses - to make the people’s vi
sion for health care come to pass.”
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Send your response to: The Portland Observer Editorial Staff, 4747
NE MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland, Or. 97211 or fax 503-288-0015.
Submissions can be made by emailing
news@portlandobserver.com
p e n can Dream o fF
18th Annual Keep Living The Dream Tribute To:
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
better to the (Scditop
The Truth about PERS
The Oregonian is on a crusade,
working with the business com mu
nity, to destroy the PERS system.
The public needs a place to see
the truths about the importance of
this basically sound system that al
lows older workers to retire. PERS
makes a decent life possible for many
older people of color and women
since civil service protections against
discrimination allows more to suc
ceed in a career in public service.
The PERS shortfall is being used
by public employers and corporate
heads to shout “The sky is falling.”
What they should be saying is that
the system is funded securely for
years to come.
There is a future shortfall that
needs to be dealt with. But those
who always want to get their hands
on working people’s money are
heating a drum about future short
falls o f $57 billion that may be due
to a com puter glitch because the
experts can't explain the result.
The actual future shortfall is due.
4
in addition to a bull market, to Mea
sure 5, which cut corporate taxes.
Before the 1990 measure, taxes were
split 50-50 between working people
and corporations. In 2002, accord
ing to the Legislative Revenue Of
fice, the split is now an outrageous
70 percent burden for workers and
30 percent for big business.
This is a question o f trying to rob
public employees pockets to make
up for corporate grand theft.
The shortfalls in schools and
public services are not due to PERS,
but to the woefully inadequate taxes
that big business pays.
We need to raise corporate taxes
to fully fund our public services
and begin a retirement system for
all Oregonians. I'd like to see The
Oregonian and other media get
behind an issue that really serves
Oregonians and not just a few busi
ness types like the Cascade Policy
Institute big business think tank.
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