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Oregon Fundamental Right to Healthcare Amendment (2018)
| Oregon Fundamental Right to Healthcare Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Healthcare | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
The Oregon Fundamental Right to Healthcare Amendment, House Joint Resolution 203, was not on the ballot in Oregon as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.[1]
This measure would have amended the state constitution to create a right for affordable healthcare and require the state to make sure that every Oregon resident has access to healthcare.[2]
If this amendment had been put on the ballot and approved, it would have been the first constitutional amendment in any state to create a fundamental right to healthcare. Richard Cauchi, of the National Conference of State Legislatures, said, "Some states have an extensive history of considering universal health coverage, going back 15 to 20 or more years. However, no such binding ballot question language has been passed and added to a state constitution."[3]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article I, Oregon Constitution
This amendment would have added a new Section 47 for Article 1 of the Oregon Constitution:[2]
SECTION 47. It is the obligation of the state to ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to cost-effective, medically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right.[4]
Sponsors
The chief sponsors of this amendment were Rep. Mitch Greenlick (D-33), Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson (D-25), Sen. Lee Beyer (D-6), and Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D-17).[1]
Arguments
House Speaker Tina Kotek said that approving the amendment for the ballot would "send an important value statement about the importance of health care, particularly as you see at the federal level there are a lot of efforts to scale back Medicaid and Medicare."[5]
When asked about funding and potential lawsuits, Kotek also said that, if the amendment is approved, the specifics for implementing it would have to be developed. Kotek said, "I think whenever you put anything into the Oregon Constitution, it sets a framework of future effort."[5]
Opposition
Arguments
House Minority Leader Mike McLane (R-55) expressed concerns about how healthcare services would be funded: “What’s been said today is there is no plan. We have no idea how much it will cost."[5]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Oregon constitution
The Oregon State Legislature can put proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot through a majority vote in each chamber—the state House and the state Senate. A public hearing and work session on the amendment—House Joint Resolution 203 (HJR 203)—was held on February 7, 2018. On February 13, 2018, the state House voted 35-25 along party lines to approve HJR 203, with all 35 Democrats voting in favor and all 25 Republicans voting against. To reach the ballot, the amendment needs approval by 16 of the 30 members of the state Senate; as of 2018, Democrats held a 17-13 majority in the Senate.[1]
The state Senate held its first hearing on HJR 203 on February 14, 2018, and referred it to the Senate committee on healthcare. A public hearing was held on February 19, 2018. The amendment, however, died in the Senate Health Care committee.[1][6]
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See also
Foot notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Oregon Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 203," accessed February 12, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Oregon Legislature, "House Joint Resolution 203 - Text," accessed February 12, 2018
- ↑ The Brownsville Herald, "Oregon House OKs health care as a right, funding questioned," February 13, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Spokesman-Review, "Oregon state lawmakers vote to make health care a right," February 13, 2018
- ↑ KVAL, "Effort to add health care to Oregon Constitution as a fundamental right dies," February 28, 2018
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State of Oregon Salem (capital) |
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