Politically, one likely route to single-payer health care will involve one or more states implementing a universal system first. A national system will follow as it becomes clear that both justice and affordability are improved with such systems.

HCAO-Action is working to make Oregon one of those states.

The Task Force on Universal Health Care

Established by S.B. 770 (2019 session), which says “The Universal Health Care Commission is established to recommend the design of the Health Care for All Oregon Plan, a universal health care system administered by the Health Care for All Oregon Board that is equitable, affordable, comprehensive, provides high quality health care, is publicly funded and available to every individual residing in Oregon.”

You can sign up to get email notifications regarding the Task Force activities here.

The legislative (non-voting members) are listed at that site (below are live links which lead to their email address, phone number, legislative website, etc.) –

Senator James Manning Jr.

Representative Cedric Hayden

Representative Marty Wilde

The law would allow a Republican Senator to join the task force, but none has yet agreed to serve.

Other non-voting members:

Representing the Association of Oregon Counties – Claire Hall, Lincoln County Board of Commissioners

Director of the Oregon Health Authority (Patrick Allen), or the director’s designee – not yet publicly determined who that will be

Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services (Lou Savage), or the director’s designee designee – not yet publicly determined who that will be

11 of the 13 voting members of the Task Force on Universal Health Care have been nominated, and we expect that they will be confirmed in early February. We do not yet have information about the remaining two positions. The nominees are below:

1. Glendora Claybrooks, Tualatin, Governor's Medicaid Advisory Committee, former CAC member for Health Share, HCAO board member

2. Dwight Dill, MS, CRC, La Grande, former Mental Health Director at the Center for Human Development (La Grande), single payer advocate

3. Bruce Goldberg, MD, Portland, Professor at OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, former OHA director

4. Zeenia Junkeer, ND, Portland, Director of Oregon Health Equity Alliance (OHEA)

5. Edward Junkins, MD, Lebanon, Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest

6. Sam Metz, MD, Portland, Retired anesthesiologist, single payer advocate with Oregon PNHP, served on Universal Access to Healthcare Workgroup

7. Deborah Riddick, JD, RN, Wilsonville, ONA Director of Health Policy and Government Relations

8. Kelly Rowe, Grand Ronde, Executive Director Health Services at The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

9. John Santa, MD, MPH, Portland, Open Notes, former OHPB member, former  Director of Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, served on Universal Access to Healthcare Workgroup

10. Chuck Sheketoff, Silverton, Former Executive Director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy

11. Sharon Stanphill, MD, Sutherlin, Health and Wellness Director, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians

The state legislature has already indicated that they “intend” to do what we want them to do – they have codified their intent in Oregon Revised Statues 414.018 (ORS 414.018), which states in Section 1:

It is the intention of the Legislative Assembly to achieve the goals of universal access to an adequate level of high quality health care at an affordable cost.

We need to help them fulfill this goal, in part by making sure that the Task Force does what the law charges them to do.

HJR 202 – An Oregon constitutional amendment that says:

1. It is the obligation of the state to ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right.

2. The obligation of the state described in subsection (1) of this section must be balanced against the public interest in funding public schools and other essential public services, and any remedy arising from an action brought against the state to enforce the provisions of this section may not interfere with the balance described in this subsection.

The House Health Care Committee will hold a public hearing on HJR 202 on February 4 at 3 pm. An agenda can be found here.

For more information related to state legislative efforts, visit the Legislative Tools page of HCAO website to find contact information for your legislators and other resources, including tips on how to speak to your elected officials during session and in the community. Local resolutions that have been passed in support of the goals of HCAO-Action can also be found on the HCAO website.

Universal Access to Healthcare Workgroup

Health Care for All Oregon-Action took part in the Universal Access to Healthcare Workgroup chaired by Rep. Andrea Salinas in 2018. As the final report states, "Due to time constraints and the inherent complexities in designing a state-based system for universal health care, the work group was unable to complete all five of its assigned tasks in 2018." The group's final report can be viewed here.

Do You Have Questions about legislation in Oregon or want to get involved? Use this form to contact our State Legislative Committee Chair.