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Oregon Governor's Latest Health Plan Looks Beyond Insurance

Gov. Kate Brown released a new plan Friday for improving the health of Oregonians.

In a policy paper called Health Care For All she said insurance alone doesn’t create healthy people. She said health is a result of everything from classrooms to housing.

“It starts by breaking down silos and preconceived notions. It starts by approaching longstanding problems from new angles,” she said.

Brown hopes to improve health by ensuring all Oregonians have access to insurance, by increasing the amount of money spent on mental health, and by creating good jobs.

"Everyone deserves to have quality, affordable health care, regardless of who they are or where they live," Brown said. "Coverage alone does not create health. We must also improve the conditions in which Oregonians are born, live, learn, work, and age if we want our communities and our state to thrive."

Republican candidate for governor Knute Buehler announced his health care package in July. He called Brown’s management of the Oregon Health Authority chaotic and wasteful.

Buehler said his plan focuses on protecting Medicaid from federal cuts, expanding mental health care and safeguarding reproductive care.

Copyright 2018 Oregon Public Broadcasting

Kristian Foden-Vencil is a veteran journalist/producer working for Oregon Public Broadcasting. He started as a cub reporter for newspapers in London, England in 1988. Then in 1991 he moved to Oregon and started freelancing. His work has appeared in publications as varied as The Oregonian, the BBC, the Salem Statesman Journal, Willamette Week, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, NPR and the Voice of America. Kristian has won awards from the Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. He was embedded with the Oregon National Guard in Iraq in 2004 and now specializes in business, law, health and politics.