Oregon votors overwhelmingly pass Measure 101

[cbreezen]

with 61% voting to save Oregon's Medicaid program in the face of inaction and division in Washington, DC. The monies come from an additional tax on hospitals and a tax on health insurance companies.

I wish it were easier for me to post a good link without retyping the entire URL, but I'm sure someone here else could do that.

I am one happy mom of a special needs kid, and I love, love, love my state!

[customerserviceguy]

1. It's always easy to vote for taxes on "somebody else"

Hopefully, this doesn't cause hospital fees and insurance premiums to rise to cover the expense of the taxes, but past performance leads me to expect otherwise.

If Oregonians had voted to impose a sales tax to pay for this, then I would have more admirable feelings about their political courage, but everyone there knows that such a measure would be dead on arrival.

[cbreezen]

2. The hospital tax is .7%

The insurance premium tax is to be no more than 1.5%.

Everyone registered to vote, had a right to have their voices heard.

The "yes" votes greatly outnumbered the "no" votes.

I will counter you and say that 61% of the people of our state believe that covering the elderly, the disabled, and the poor is more important than these small tax increases.

[customerserviceguy]

15. Yes, they're seemingly tiny

but don't be surprised if hospitals, and especially insurers find a way to squeeze the money out of patients and ratepayers instead of CEO salaries.

[Timewas]

3. Measure 101

Did nothing to raise the taxes at all, it merely stopped the existing system from ending, overall nothing has changed ..it's main goal is to retain health insurance for the low income as it is ...

[Kittycow]

5. Interestingly enough, one of the sponsors who forced the ballot

was "raised on entitlements during her childhood." And she has family members on the Oregon Health Plan.

But yeah, Jamie Herrera, do your best to make sure today's working poor etc don't get those benefits. (Her idea was to raise tobacco taxes again.)

[cbreezen]

11. I actually think that submitting controversial bills

to a vote by the People is a good thing. When I look at that win percentage, it seems clear to me this wasn't just a Portland vote, or an inordinately high turnout by Democrats. It seems as if this is an important issue for Republicans and Independents, as well.

[cbreezen]

9. It is also temporary and was meant to

stabilize the funding for the 2017-2019 health care budget. We, as a state, definitely have some important work ahead of us, but we now have a little bit of breathing room.

Either which way, it is a win for Oregonians!

[Ken Burch]

19. Why a sales tax?

Why insist on a tax that hits the people who need this service harder than everybody else?

[customerserviceguy]

20. I used to live in Washington, near the border with Oregon

The voters in Washington always have turned down an income tax, and the voters in Oregon have always turned down a sales tax. It's not that one state is more "progressive" than the other, it's just that the voters in each of the two states likes only having two "legs" of the tax stool to deal with.

The point is, it calls to mind what Democratic Senator Russell B. Long, from Louisiana is credited with saying, "Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that fellow behind the tree." It takes political courage to vote to tax oneself, and I've noted that voters in the more urbanized areas of Portland and Seattle have indeed voted for taxes to build and maintain mass transit.

Just as taxes pay for things that benefit a part (or maybe most) of society, there are parts of every society that bear the expense of the taxes. My prediction is that the costs will not be borne by six-figure hospital administrators or seven-figure health insurance CEO's.

[CanonRay]

4. Yea, us!

But the turnout was embarrassingly low. There is nowhere on earth it is easier to vote than Oregon.

[Kittycow]

6. Yeah, I was kind of surprised at that.

I thought that it would be a hot button item for sure.

[Timewas]

7. Not too surprising

But really stupid, I live in the fifth lowest income count in Oregon, Douglas, and this county actually voted against it...True red enclave here went for trump and always votes for Gop and against their own best interests..

[cbreezen]

10. What was the percentage of registered votors who returned their ballots? nt

[CanonRay]

12. I think it was just over 10%

[cbreezen]

13. Ehhhhh. Stunning. nt

[Nitram]

8. Way to go Oregon!

[cbreezen]

16. So sorry I missed your post!

I'm so glad that you share in my excitement.

[raven mad]

14. As the happy wife of a guy born in Roseburg -

we're bouncing with you! Rock ON, Oregon!

[cbreezen]

17. Thanks for sharing in our excitement.

We must aways prepare for the worst as we hope for the best!

[raven mad]

18. LOL! Disraeli rocks, too!