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Fixing the Oregon Health Plan By BILL KETTLER Would you pay more for wine and beer to bring better health care to poor kids and pregnant women? What about a sales tax that would guarantee health care for all Oregonians? Or a state tax on capital gains to pay doctors to care for poor people? Ideas swirled through the room Monday when about 80 people talked about improving the Oregon Health Plan. But the health officials who organized the meeting didn't just let them dream -- they asked them to think about who would pay to make the dreams come true. Six years after Oregon reorganized its low-income medical programs into what became known as the Oregon Health Plan, more than 300,000 Oregonians still have no health insurance. State health care officials came to Medford to talk about bringing more of them into the Oregon Health Plan, the innovative program that provides health care to low-income families and individuals. Two Medford meetings gave Rogue Valley residents an opportunity to tell state health officials their ideas about expanding the Oregon Health Plan. Gov. John Kitzhaber and state health officials organized the tour to collect ideas prior to a "health care summit'' scheduled for Sept. 13. "Today's exercise is about tough choices," said Dr. John Santa, administrator of the Office for Oregon Health Plan Policy and Research. People worked in groups of eight, airing their ideas with help from facilitators. The conversations brought doctors and hospital administrators together with retired people and folks who actually use the Oregon Health Plan. At one table a retired nurse sat with an insurance salesman, hospital administrators and workers from a clinic that serves predominantly low-income people and families. "Health care should be a given," said Barb Scarim of Ashland. "We should find a way to make sure everyone has health care." Rachel Linder of La Clinica del Valle spoke of the need to extend health care to pregnant women and children who are eligible but not being covered. Retired nurse Carla Rogers of Ashland said the Oregon Health Plan should be opened to people who earn to much to qualify under existing guidelines, but to little to afford health insurance. Under today's guidelines, a family of four would need an annual income of less than $16,704 to qualify for full benefits of the plan. "If you made $25,000 and had a family of four to support, you couldn't afford to buy health care," she said. Insurance salesman Chuck Darland suggested sliding-scale premiums to extend coverage to more people. Novel suggestions emerged for paying for the expanded coverage. Retired nurse Rogers suggested costs could be reduced by making the state the single payer for Oregon Health Plan clients. Private companies, she said, spend more money than a single payer would have to spend. Other ideas included various "sin taxes" on alcohol and tobacco. Santa, the state health official, noted Oregon ranks 49th among states in taxes on liquor. After the meeting adjourned Santa said there was a "a much richer discussion about costs" of expanding the Oregon Health Plan than he had seen in other meetings across the state. Santa said the meetings are part of the public policy "stew" that health officials are cooking this summer prior to the September health summit. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA