Forum

Measure 111: Should Affordable Health Care Be a Constitutional Right?

Date: October 14, 2022

Time: Noon to 1:15 pm

Event Type: Live/Livestream
Members and Non-Members may attend our forums for free

Venue: First United Methodist Church
1376 Olive Street
Eugene, Oregon
97401

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Topic:

On November 8, Oregon voters will decide whether to support or oppose a proposal to amend the Oregon Constitution. If the measure passes, it would require that the state “ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right.” If it doesn’t pass, lawmakers and communities will continue to work on finding other ways to meet healthcare needs.

While most people see the value in making sure everyone stays healthy, opinions differ widely on how to do that in medically effective, efficient, and sustainable ways. In this forum, two doctors with long experience in practicing medicine and in working on policies to provide more prudent and provident health care systems, a community leader from a healthcare advocacy group, and a state representative active on the House Committee for Healthcare describe their positions on this measure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speakers

Name: Emerson Hamlin
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Biography:

Emerson Hamlin (they/them) is the campaign manager for the Right to Healthcare Campaign, which advocates for a yes vote on Measure 111. Prior to working on this campaign, they served on the staff of Rep. Mitch Greenlick during the 2019-2020 legislative sessions, including working on HJR 202, a precursor to Measure 111; and as Chief of Staff for Rep. Zach Hudson; and on other campaigns over the last five years. Most notably, they worked on Preschool for All, the measure that created a universal preschool program in Multnomah County. They graduated summa cum laude from Portland State University with a BA in political science.


Name: Elizabeth Steiner Hayward MD
Title: State Senator
Organization:
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/steinerhayward
Biography:

Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, MD, is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Family Medicine at OHSU. She has served as the State Senator for Northwest Portland and Beaverton since 2011. She is Senate Co-Chair of the Full Ways & Means Committee, which oversees Oregon’s state budget. Senator Steiner Hayward also serves as Deputy Majority Leader for the Senate Democrats. In her time in the Oregon Legislature, she has helped raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21, increase statewide vaccination rates, pass legislation establishing the nation’s first state-wide universally-offered nurse home visiting program for families with new babies, and address the opioid epidemic head-on through behavioral health treatment programs and increasing access to medication-assisted treatment.


Name: Samuel Metz MD
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Website: https://pnhporegon.org/
Biography:

Samuel Metz, MD, is a Portland physician. He is vice president of Oregon Physicians for a National Health Program and a founding member of Mad As Hell Doctors, both of which advocate for single payer healthcare. He was a member of Oregon’s 2018 Universal Access to Health Care legislative work group and of the Oregon Medical Association’s 2018 Universal Healthcare Task Force. He is currently a member of Oregon’s SB 770 Task Force on Universal Health Care.


Name: Ronald Noble
Title: State Representative
Organization:
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/noble
Biography:

Ronald Noble is serving his third term as State Representative for Oregon House District 24. His legislative duties during the 2021 legislative session included serving as Vice Chair of the House Committee on Judiciary, Vice-Chair of the House Subcommittee on Equitable Policing, Co-Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, and Co-Chair of the House and Joint Committees on Conduct.  He is also a member of the House Committee on Health Care and the House Committee on Human Services.  Prior to election to the legislature, he served 28 years in law enforcement, the last 8 years as Chief of Police in McMinnville, OR. He is a past president of the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police, and a graduate of the FBI National Academy, and the PSU Hatfield School of Gov’t Public Safety Command College.


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