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Oregon
Working Families
Party
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Support Healthy Kids! Vote YES on Measure 50 Measure 50 on the November 6, 2007 ballot will guarantee health care for 100,000 uninsured Oregon children and strengthen tobacco prevention programs through an 84.5 cent per pack increase in the state's cigarette tax matching our neighbors to the north in Washington State. The Oregon Working Families Party supports Measure 50 and encourages all voters to vote YES. See below for the full text of the OWFP Statement in Support of Measure 50 that you will find in Oregon's Voter Pamphlet. For more information about Measure 50, you can visit the Healthy Kids coalition website. Working Families Party Statement of Support for Measure 50 from the Oregon Voters' Pamphlet America's health care system is failing America's working families. The compact by which Americans earn their health care from their jobs is unraveling, threatening both the physical health and the financial well-being of working people and their children. As a result, 114,000 Oregon children currently lack health coverage. Some 90% of children without health insurance live in families with at least one working parent, unfortunately they work in jobs that no longer provide affordable health benefits. Measure 50 allows Oregonians to provide healthcare to all of Oregon's children. The Worsening Problem of the Uninsured Children without health insurance are less likely to get care when needed, more likely to seek treatment in emergency rooms and less likely to survive a critical illness. Even when they survive, their families are more likely to face bankruptcy. Their families pay the highest prices for prescription drugs and hospital care. And, when their families can't pay, their costs are routinely shifted to those with health insurance, increasing the financial pressures on employers and workers who are struggling to maintain health insurance benefits and coverage. A Tightening Noose on Working Families This vicious circle is tightening like a noose around working families. Without the ability to earn affordable health care with their work, they are forced to choose between paying for health insurance for their children or paying their mortgage, between filling their refrigerators or filling their prescriptions. The average monthly health insurance premium for a family now matches the cost of a $120,000 mortgage – and exceeds the entire monthly earnings of a worker at the federal minimum wage. Measure 50 supports working families By voting YES on Measure 50, Oregonians can insure that the health of Oregon's children will improve and working families will no longer have to choose between providing food and shelter or providing healthcare for their children. Join Oregon's Working Families by voting YES on Measure 50. Learn more about how we hope to fight for affordable health care.
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