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July 30th, 2022

7/30/2022

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Stay cool!

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July 30th, 2022

7/30/2022

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Medicare birthday rally will bring attention
​to efforts to privatize the federal program

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A rally to celebrate the 57th birthday of Medicare and bring attention to efforts to privatize the federal program will start at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 30, at the Linn County Courthouse, 300 Fourth Ave. S.W.
Medicare was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 30, 1965. The federal health insurance program is for people 65 and older, certain younger people with disabilities and people with End-stage Renal Disease.
“Powerful investor groups are privatizing Medicare through the little-known program REACH (formerly Medicare Direct Contracting),” said Rick Staggenborg, Linn County Democrat and the Linn County chair of Health Care for All Oregon.  “Unchecked, this will replace traditional Medicare with a system run like private insurance. As with private insurance, this is decreasing provider choice, increasing co-pays and deductibles, and causing inappropriate denial of care.” 
In addition to these costs to beneficiaries, the change is coming at a huge cost to taxpayers. Under REACH, contractors are allowed to keep up to 40 percent of all monies they receive to pay provider bills. Traditional Medicare covers these bills with only a 2% overhead. Over half of the entities that have applied to become contractors are investor-owned, including private equity funds that make no pretense of being in it to improve medical care, Staggenborg said.
The rally  is cosponsored by the Linn County chapter of Health Care for All Oregon, the Health Care Justice Ministry of Albany First Christian Church, and Mid Valley Health Care Associates.
​For more about REACH, click here

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July 30th, 2022

7/30/2022

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Disability Justice Caucus:
Celebrate ADA anniversary

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Today, we affirm that we all deserve the chance to fully participate in society and remember the brave activists who took charge — getting out of their wheelchairs and crawling up the steps of the U.S. Capitol on March 12, 1990, to demand our basic human rights. Hundreds of people with disabilities took part in this action and were the catalyst in pushing Congress to move forward and pass this landmark civil rights bill.
We recognize that for all its successes, the Americans with Disabilities Act is not sufficient in its guarantee of disability equity and accessibility. For example, people with disabilities who have multiple identities, such as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color with disabilities and/or members of the LGBTQIA+ communities with disabilities.
While there is still a long way to go, here in Oregon and beyond – we remain committed to building a more inclusive, accessible, and equitable state for all.
​Get Involved!
Celebrate the ADA's anniversary and tell us your story! Use any media of your choosing (video, pictures, written word, or other) and share on social media:
Facebook: #ThanksToTheADA. 
Twitter: #ThanksToTheADA #ADA32 #ADANetwork #DisabilityPride 
Thanks for joining us in this fight.

Steph Newton,
Chair, DPO Disability Justice Caucus
​
PS - For more information on our Disability Justice Caucus, please sign up using the link below or join us at our next meeting, which will be held during the Democratic Party of Oregon's third quarter State Central Committee meeting on August 20-21. Details here.

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July 23rd, 2022

7/23/2022

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Albany Pride 2022

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July 22nd, 2022

7/22/2022

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Biden signs executive order on abortion

President Biden issued an executive order July 8 to safeguard access to abortion and contraception, a move that comes amid heightened pressure on the White House since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. PBS NewHour's Laura Barrón-López joins anchor Judy Woodruff to discuss what it means and where some activists say it falls short.

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July 21st, 2022

7/21/2022

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Under REACH, traditional Medicare
​is quietly being handed to Wall Street

Background: In 2016, the Trump administration introduced a program that contracts with private entities to do Medicare’s job of paying the bills of enrollees. The contractors are given a fixed amount of money to cover a given number of patients. They can keep up to 40% of the money to do what traditional Medicare does with only a 2 percent overhead.
The essential elements of this program are being continued under the Biden administration’s REACH program. The Medicare and Medicaid Center for Innovation has announced that it plans to force all seniors into this program by 2030, completely privatizing Medicare. Traditional Medicare will be eliminated, leaving a system with all the problems of private insurance that is much more expensive than even Medicare Advantage.
Consequences of REACH:  
  • Enrollees who’ve chosen traditional Medicare are forced into private plans. 
  • Patients lose choice of providers due to restricted provider panels. 
  • An incentive was created to deny care to maximize profit. 
  • Inappropriate denials of care and payment increase death and morbidity. 
  • Taxpayers and enrollees are forced to pay for an outrageously expensive system that prioritizes maximizing profits over patient care outcomes. 
  • Privatizing Medicare will make it virtually impossible to create an efficient and high quality system of universal, publicly funded health care. 
  • Unless the President halts the program, Congress is powerless to act.   
What you can do:  
  1. Write, call, and email your members of Congress telling them to demand that Biden act. Find their contact information at congress.gov/members. 
  2. Speak up at town halls during the August recess. 
  3. Write letters to the editor. 
  4. Share this with friends, coworkers, neighbors, and groups to which you belong. 
  5. Learn more at Physicians for a National Health Program: pnhp.org 
Information provided by Rick Staggenborg, Linn County Democrat and Linn County chair of Health Care for All Oregon.
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July 12th, 2022

7/12/2022

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​​Today (July 1), more than 100,000 Oregonians will see their wages go up thanks to Oregon’s landmark law to raise the minimum wage and uplift working families. We wouldn’t have been able to get it done without @TinaKotek leading the way. In the race for governor, Tina is the only candidate who has proven that she will stand by Oregon's workers. That’s why we’re proud to be on #TeamTina #orpol 

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  • HOME
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    • Officers & Committee Chairs
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    • Election 2022
    • Election 2020 >
      • Ballot Measures
      • City Council, Mayoral Candidates
      • County, State, Federal Candidates
      • Albany City Council Ward 1: Keith Kolkow
      • Albany City Council Ward 2: Amanda Dant
      • Albany City Council Ward 3: Marilyn Smith
      • Lebanon City Council Ward I: Christan Stagg (write-in)
      • Linn Commissioner: Scott Bruslind
      • State House Dist. 11: Marty Wilde
      • State House Dist. 15: Miriam Cummins
      • State House Dist. 17: Paige Hook
      • State Senate Dist. 9: Jim Hinsvark
      • Secretary of State: Shemia Fagan
      • Attorney General: Ellen Rosenblum
      • State Treasurer: Tobias Read
      • U.S. Rep., 4th District: Peter DeFazio
      • U.S. Senator: Jeff Merkley
      • President: Joe Biden VP Kamala Harris
  • Resources