Whom does Greg Walden represent?

Chuck Sheketoff

Whom, exactly, does U.S. Congressman Greg Walden represent?

Officially, of course, he represents all the people living in Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District, a vast area encompassing Oregon east of the Cascades and southern Oregon. But it that is not the impression one gets when looking at the GOP health reform plan, which would result in deep cuts to Oregon’s Medicaid program, the Oregon Health Plan (OHP).

Rep. Walden is one of the architects the GOP plan. A congressional committee he chairs unveiled the plan a couple of weeks ago.

Not only would the GOP plan hit Oregon, by one measure, harder than all but one state, Walden’s district would suffer the most out of Oregon’s five congressional districts.

How would the GOP plan affect Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District? In House GOP Health Plan Threatens Nearly One Million Oregonians Relying on the Oregon Health Plan the Oregon Center for Public Policy explained:

• A bigger share of people in Walden's district rely on the Oregon Health Plan to access health care than in any other district in the state, and thus they would suffer the most from the plan’s cuts to Medicaid.
• More than half of all children in Walden’s district have health insurance coverage through the OHP. The magnitude of the proposed cuts to Medicaid would put their health care, and ultimately their economic future, at risk.
• Hospitals — major employers in Walden's district — would see their bottom lines erode as people lose health insurance and Medicaid spending is reduced. Lost federal dollars would hit the economies of District 2 hard, costing jobs in health care, construction, real estate, retail trade, and other industries.

There’s no question that the GOP plan would harm Oregon, and especially Walden’s 2nd Congressional District. Which is why it bears repeating: Whom does Greg Walden represent?

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Chuck Sheketoff is the executive director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy. You can sign up to receive email notification of OCPP materials at www.ocpp.org.

By Chuck Sheketoff March 21, 2017