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L/RAIN Temp: 48 °F Wind: WNW at 8 mph Tuesday, April 1, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend March 26, 2003 Prescription offered for state’s ailing health care Rep. Bates joins others in unveiling plan that extends basic coverage for children, the poor By DON JEPSEN for the Mail Tribune SALEM — Bills designed to extend health care coverage to 441,000 Oregonians — including every child in the state — and to curb the rapidly escalating cost of prescription drugs were unveiled by backers at a news conference Tuesday. Rep. Alan Bates, D-Ashland, the only physician in the Legislature, said the explosion in health care costs "cannot be maintained by society." "We will have a meltdown, an implosion, if we don’t address this issue," he said, adding that prescription costs have been rising about 19 percent annually. The key proposals outlined by Bates and other legislators are: House Bill 3285 : imposing a 2 percent payroll tax on employers to help pay for expanded health care coverage. Bates estimated the tax would generate $300 million a biennium and leverage another $400 million to $500 million in federal Medicaid funds. Employers who already provide benefits would get a tax credit. House Bill 3570 : creating a purchasing pool to negotiate discounted prices for prescription drugs. State and local governments, school districts, businesses and individuals could participate. In addition, the proposals would require drug companies to disclose gifts, fees or promotions given to doctors and hospitals — estimated at more than $4 billion a year nationwide — as sales tools. They also would implement a monitoring program to protect against price fixing and other illegal activities. Also participating in the press conference was Ben Westlund, R-Tumalo, who chairs the Audit and Human Services Committee that was established this session to study ways to improve the delivery of health care services to low-income Oregonians. Last week, that committee reluctantly agreed to recommend to the budget-writing ways and means panel that the Oregon Health Plan live within existing resources, resulting in an end of coverage on June 30 for some 150,000 low-income Oregonians who don’t quality for Medicare. Westlund said work will continue, however, on finding additional dollars to cover more low-income families. He said there are too many unknowns to say how the proposals made Tuesday would fare in the coming months, but he commended legislators for their efforts. "I am very proud of the work by this group," he said, without specifically endorsing the package. "I do know the Legislature is committed to finding the best solution." A spokesman for the Oregon Business Association, an alliance of mostly small businesses, said he wasn’t completely familiar with the proposals, including the payroll tax. But Lynn Lundquist said he was skeptical about the chances of passage in a tax-shy session. "In view of the economic times, I would doubt the payroll tax has legs," Lundquist said, adding, "You can’t tax your way to prosperity." No hearing date has been scheduled for the proposals. Don Jepsen is a free-lance writer living in Salem. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S