Voters in Oregon went to the polls last Tuesday and made healthcare a constitutional right in the state.
Ballot Measure 111 is projected to pass by the slimmest of margins, with “yes” voters holding a 50.6% to 49.4% advantage over “no” voters with 96% of the votes in. The state must now amend the constitution to “ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right.”
Oregon is the first state to make health care a constitutional right, per MorePerfectUnion.
Voters passed Ballot Measure 111, giving every Oregonian a right to “cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable health care.”
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) November 15, 2022
Oregon is now the first state in the U.S. that will guarantee a right to healthcare in its constitution. The vote represents a major win for progressive activists, who have long pushed the line that “healthcare is a human right” that should be guaranteed by the government for people of any income level, as is the case in many European countries and Canada. (RELATED: Canadians Say They Have A Harder Time Getting Healthcare Than Americans: POLL)
Implementation of the amendment may be tricky. The vote does not clarify what “cost-effective, clinically appropriate and affordable” means, and there is no indication yet of how the measure will be paid for. According to the Oregon Health Authority, 94% of Oregonians are already on health insurance anyway.
The responsibility for drawing up a specific plan and deciding who funds it will fall on the Democrat-controlled state legislature. Advocates argue the amendment is will be akin to the right all Oregonians have to a public K-12 education.
Despite the vote, Oregon’s Supreme Court could still weigh in to alter or strike down the amendment, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Several opposition groups have already indicated they will front legal challenges to the measures.