John Kitzhaber<\/b><\/p>\n
For The Oregonian\/OregonLive<\/p>\n
Kitzhaber, a physician and health care policy consultant, was governor of Oregon from 1995-2003 and from 2011-2015. <\/p>\n
Suppose your hospital closed, or didn\u2019t offer inpatient services when you needed them? Suppose you had to wait six months to see a physician, forcing you to use the emergency room, one of the most expensive care settings, to access needed medical care? That\u2019s already the reality for hundreds of thousands of Oregonians. It\u2019s about to get much worse.<\/p>\n
The infrastructure of our health care system is beginning to crumble, and we haven\u2019t fully grasped the gravity of the situation. Over half our hospitals are operating at a loss, according to Oregon Health Authority data.<\/a> In December 2023, Peace Health\u2019s University District Hospital<\/a> in Eugene in closed. Ashland Community Hospital will close its birthing center this spring<\/a>, and stop providing inpatient services. Last year over 1,000 hospital employees were laid off. Across Oregon, medical clinics and practices, especially independent practices, are struggling to remain solvent. <\/p>\n This problem isn\u2019t new. We\u2019ve simply ignored it. Since 2019, the cost of family coverage increased 24%.<\/a> Fifteen percent of Oregonians delay or avoid needed medical care<\/a> because of cost, and the leading cause of personal bankruptcy<\/a> in Oregon is the inability to pay a medical bill.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve all seen this coming\u2014but instead of confronting it, we\u2019ve kicked the can down the road by shifting the cost to employers and into our $38 trillion national debt. For decades, insurers, providers, labor and consumers have blamed each other for escalating cost, and resisted working together toward the systemic change needed for a sustainable future. As long as we remain in our silos, refusing to see that we are all part of the same failing system, we will continue to perpetuate a zero-sum politics of scarcity, that creates \u201cwinners\u201d and \u201closers,\u201d but never a lasting solution.<\/p>\n Then, last July, Congress passed House Resolution 1, under which Oregon will lose $11 billion in federal Medicaid funds over the next decade. Congress\u2019s failure to extend the enhanced premium subsidies in the Affordable Care Act market, will increase monthly premiums by up to $450 per month<\/a> for 140,000 Oregonians, disproportionally impacting self-employed individuals, farmers, ranchers, and small business owners\u2014particularly in rural Oregon. The intersection of escalating health care cost, and the loss of federal funds, poses an existential threat to Oregon: a threat to access, a threat to the stability of our general fund, a threat to the state economy.<\/p>\n