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Oregon Topics: Medical/Health
The Kam Wah Chung Museum in John Day. Times have changed since Chinese herbal doctor Ing Hay administered traditional Chinese remedies here in the early 1900s to the Chinese gold-mine workers, pioneers, and others. (Scenic photo No. graDA0089)
Oregonians are bombarded on a daily basis with news stories related to medicine and health. The focus ranges from the promise of breakthrough cures for dreaded diseases to the tragedy of some individuals having to choose between food and prescription medicine. Health care continues to present these sorts of opportunities and challenges. As more effective (and more expensive) treatments are developed, more people have difficulty affording them.
One response to this has been the Oregon Health Plan, which attempts to enhance and extend coverage for health and medical services to Oregonians who would otherwise be excluded. Now, national health insurance reform is in the mix in the form of the Affordable Care Act, although it seems to raise as many questions as it answers and likely will be litigated for years. Meanwhile, many other government programs serve Oregonians with a wide variety of medical and health services. This section provides links to the increasingly promising and frustrating world of medicine and health.
Also see related topics such as Disabled Citizens and Senior Citizens.
Revised 1/2013