Health Care Reform
Blumenauer Supports Health Care Reform That Will Help Oregon
After Securing a special fix to support Oregon’s efficient health care system, Earl Blumenauer voted to pass America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, HR 3200 out of committee. Blumenauer, a member of the Ways and Means Health Care Subcommittee, worked hard to get important provisions into the bill. Provisions which help not only Oregon, but all of America.
Blumenauer has supported a public plan from the start. A plan that will help to provide all Americans with high-quality affordable care. At the same time he has succeeded in protecting Oregon’s high quality efficient Medicare plans from unjust cuts to pay for the rest of the bill. Working with the committee, Blumenauer orchestrated an increase in bonus payments that will go to regions with exceptional, quality care and efficient spending. These permanent 8% bonus payments will protect seniors in low spending regions of the country – including Oregon - from unfair cuts to their benefits and increases to their premiums.
The following is a statement from Rep. Blumenauer:
“We have one shot at getting health care right, and we worked day and night to pass a bill that provides high quality, affordable care to all Americans. I have always supported and worked to advance a public option that will compete with private plans to make them more effective and more affordable. This will help cover millions of Americans, for whom health care reform is a matter of life or death. With 270 Oregonians losing their coverage every day as a result of unemployment, the cost of inaction is simply too great.
“I have worked not only to cover the uninsured, but to protect Oregon’s seniors from severe cuts to their affordable, quality Medicare plans. Our Medicare plans are among the nation’s most efficient, providing exceptional care at low costs. We truly are a model for other states with runaway costs, and should be rewarded rather than punished. This is why I worked to secure a permanent 8% efficiency bonus for our low-spending counties. I fought tooth and nail to stop Oregon from being unjustly penalized, and the protections secured for our plans solidified my vote.”
Other accomplishments include:
End of life care consultations (POLST) AND advance planning consultation – SEC. 1233 – This part of the bill will allow patients to seek advice from doctors on how they want to be treated at the end of their lives. This will dramatically improve end-of-life care over time and is based on Blumenauer’s Life Sustaining Treatment Preferences Act and Advance Planning and Compassionate Care Act.
Shared decision making demonstration program – Sec. 1236 – This demo program will test shared decision making in Medicare by providing payments to providers for the investment in patient decision aids and follow up consultations. Patient decision aids are tools such as DVD’s and web-based, interactive programs that provide unbiased, evidence-based information on treatment options and help patients clarify and communicate the personal values they associate with those options.
Efficiency bonus of 5% for doctors in low-spending states – Sec.1123 – This benefit will help many Oregon counties receive a benefit for providing affordable, efficient care
In almost four decades of public service, Earl Blumenauer's innovative accomplishments in transportation, planning, environmental programs and public participation have helped Portland, Oregon earn an international reputation as one of America's most livable cities.