Debate is on over $550 million health care tax referendum

(Update: Comments from supporters, opponents, Deschutes County clerk)

Foes of the $550 million health care tax passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Kate Brown have succeeded in referring it to a special election ballot next January, meaning Oregonians will get an earful of the pros and cons in coming months — starting now.

The Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office said Monday it had reviewed the signatures for Referendum Petition #301 and determined that there are enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

NewsChannel 21 spoke Tuesday with state Rep. Cedric Hayden, R-Eugene, one of the three Republican spearheads of the referendum.

“Under House Bill 2391. a true tax, rather than an assessment, which is the historical way we funded Medicaid allows for fungible funds to go to general funds,” Hayden said, “meaning they can cost-shift Medicaid dollars out of the Medicaid system and put them in the general fund system, where they can be used for anything.”

Of the 84,367 signatures submitted, 70,320, or 85.43 percent, were deemed valid, which exceeds the required number of 58,789, according to the Elections Division.

Pursuant to Senate Bill 229, which was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor earlier this year, a special election will be held on Jan. 23 to consider this referendum. This will be the only question that will appear on the ballot and will be numbered Measure 101.

The ballot title drafted by the Legislature has been appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, where a decision must be made by November 6.

The current ballot title reads: “Provides funds currently budgeted to pay for health care to low-income individuals and families and for stabilizing health insurance premiums, using temporary assessments on insurance companies, some hospitals and other providers of health insurance or health care coverage.”

Supporters — including labor groups and organizations that make money by providing Medicaid services — say money raised by House Bill 2391 will help keep 350,000 poor Oregonians on the Medicaid program.

Steve Rooney is a retired registered nurse who was in the field for 37 years. He said Tuesday if the measure does not pass, hundreds of thousands of Oregonians will lose coverage through Medicaid.

“When those people no longer have Medicaid coverage, they go without primary care,” Rooney said. “If you go without primary care, you wait until you’re sick and you end up in the emergency room — and that’s a much more expensive form of health care.”

Backers say the tax hike is needed to shore up Oregon’s Medicaid budget and keep poor people from being kicked off taxpayer-funded health insurance. They also say the money will also help stabilize the insurance market by establishing a reinsurance program.

Opponents say Oregon’s health agency has enough money to cover health care costs for at least a year. By the time that runs out, they said, lawmakers could come up with a better health care funding fix.

Rather than hike taxes, the foes said, the Legislature should reform how public employees get health care, in part by forcing them to buy plans on the health care exchange, a move they said could save hundreds of millions of dollars.

The special election is expected to cost $3.32 million, according to Debra Royal, chief of staff for Secretary of State Dennis Richardson. The state will reimburse counties for their election costs, which Royal told NewsChannel 21 are included in that figure.

Deschutes County Clerk Nancy Blankenship said she is is still figuring out how much the special election will cost her office.

“Kind of estimating based on previous elections, it probably will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $110,000 to $130,000,” she said. “We have about 130,000 voters. It ranges about 95 cents per voter to a little over $1.”

In order to be included in the voters’ pamphlet for the election, arguments for or against Measure 101 must be filed with the secretary of state’s office by 5 p.m. on Nov. 13.

The last day for county election officials to mail ballots to military and overseas voters is Dec. 9, 2017.

Voters’ pamphlets will be mailed to every household between Dec. 27 and Dec. 29.

The voter registration deadline for the January 23 election will be Jan. 2.

County election officials will mail ballots to voters between Jan. 3 and Jan. 9.