With their efforts to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act, Trump and the Republicans may have jump-started the conversation on single payer health care by highlighting the need to simplify and expand access. In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 60% said the government has a “responsibility” to ensure health care access. Health Care for All Oregon (HCAO) is working to make that happen through grassroots activism, legislative efforts, and community education programs, and one of their goals is to have Oregonians vote on this issue by 2020. Working for single payer health reform for Oregon and the greater United States, HCAO is active throughout the state and is supported by some 120 coalition organizations. Host Stephanie Potter will be speaking with HCAO members, Sandra Hernandes, Lee Mercer, and Kate Thomas.
Sandra Hernandes is an educator, Jungian psychologist and a Theatre of the Oppressed director working with communities of color, immigrants, and allies in support of social movements. She uses an interactive form of theatre that evokes power-sharing and self-expression from spectators, who become “spect-actors.” She collaborates with the Oregon Health Authority/Office of Equity and Inclusion, and her Spect-Actors Collective helped create the Oregon Health Equity Alliance. She also helped create Collective Health Advocacy and Rights of Latinas/os and Africans, and implemented Legislative Forum Theatres to work on policy changes.
Lee Mercer is currently Mobilization Committee Chair (and past President) of HCAO and on the Executive Team (and former Director) of the Main Street Alliance of Oregon. Prior to this he did legislative advocacy, outreach and education on poverty, hunger and economic issues with Oregon Center for Public Policy and Second Harvest Food Bank in Santa Cruz. He also co-chaired the California Hunger Action Coalition and was part of the leadership team of the Human Services Coalition of Oregon. .
Kate Thomas, a Senior at Portland state studying health administration, volunteers with HCAO. Since joining the organization, she has created, implemented, and continues to run HCAO’s first intern cohort and is working towards gaining a youth following for HCAO as well as the reality for single payer for the state.
Photos by Allen Hallmark (Lynne Likens/HCAO,OurRevolution,Indivisible)
- KBOO