March 14, 2008

To: All DHS employees

From: Bruce Goldberg, M.D., director

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"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going."
~Professor Irwin Corey

One Oregonian dies each day as a result of not having health insurance. That alarming statistic was released this past week in a report by Families USA. And the fact that it comes just as Oregon is opening what many people are calling a health insurance lottery should be causing all of us to stand up and demand that the wealthiest nation in the world stop letting its citizens die because they do not have access to affordable health care.

Fully 91,675 low-income Oregonians are hoping to get one of the 10,000 slots in our Oregon Health Plan Standard program. But it's not the insurance itself, it's the access to health care that OHP-Standard represents. It's the access to life-saving medical help.

It is wonderful that 10,000 people will be able to get health insurance. But it's deeply troubling to know that the need is so much greater, that 600,000 of our neighbors in this state spend every day experiencing the stress and uncertainty that come with being uninsured. And that, each day, one of those neighbors dies.

Some aspects of health care coverage are improving, and that's good news. We've made strides in Oregon and at the national level in bringing parity to the coverage that insurance companies provide for physical and mental health care. In Oregon we're strengthening substance abuse services and our state's mental health treatment infrastructure. We're implementing a more holistic approach to caring for children and families in crisis. But the need is greater than the current system can address.

Too many people are unable to afford preventive care that can catch an emerging problem early while it's still treatable. The result is more lost work and lower pay for adults, fewer school days and a greater chance of falling behind and dropping out for children, and -- ultimately -- lower-quality and shorter lives for those without insurance. And the impacts of the current system are not confined just to those who lack insurance. Insured individuals pay higher premiums, emergency departments become backlogged, and every community's economic health is harmed.

Every day at DHS we see the effects on people's lives caused by lack of access to health care. Every division in DHS, all of our programs and all of our clients are impacted. We work hard to do what we can for our clients, but this is a problem that goes beyond our ability to solve alone. Reopening OHP-Standard is a start, but there's much more to be done. We as a state must agree that every Oregonian should have access to the health care they need.

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This message is intended for all department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.