The Facts

Learn more about health care in Oregon from our issue primers. Click below to download a pdf of each primer.

Prescription Primer
Insurance Primer
Hospital Primer
Oregon Health Plan Primer
Long-term-care Primer

Quality health care that once seemed reliable is quickly being priced out of reach for millions of hardworking, taxpaying Americans. The health care crisis affects us all regardless of age, race or employment.

Nearly 45 million Americans are uninsured.  That's over 15 percent of the population. 

And that number doesn't even scratch the surface of the number of Americans who are under insured in this country.

In Oregon:

• 566,000 Oregonians are uninsured.
• 38% of Hispanics are uninsured.
• 16% of the Caucasian population are uninsured.
• 21% of women are uninsured.
• Kids up to 185% of the federal poverty level are eligible for health coverage in Oregon.
  
• The price of health care for the uninsured increased health insurance premiums for individual private employer coverage by $372 in 2005.  If nothing changes, in 2010, the increase in price will be $544.

Note: Due to the yet to be released revised statistics from the Census Bureau, the sample for the number of uninsured African-Americans and Asians is too small.