health

Every 20 seconds an American is newly diagnosed with diabetes, making it the nation’s fastest growing disease. Over 23 million Americans live with this chronic condition at a total expense of more than $174 billion last year. Diabetes impacts all sectors of society, and the burden of this disease goes beyond financial costs to include strained relationships with families and friends and decreased quality of life.

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Nov 14 2008 CCOP copy.MP3

This past month, the U.S. experienced possibly the greatest financial upheaval since the Great Depression. As Americans struggle to understand how this crisis impacts their lives, a fierce presidential campaign is underway, with both candidates promising alternative solutions to the economic predicament.

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Oct 31 2008 CCOPcopy.MP3

Should business owners still bear the primary burden of providing health care to working adults and their families, when the typical worker now changes jobs with great frequency and when U.S. businesses are competing against foreign companies that have governments pay their health bills?

In November 2007 Oregonians will decide Measure 50, a proposed constitutional amendment that would impose a tax increase on tobacco products to fund health coverage for the state’s more than100,000 uninsured low-income children. If the measure passes, a small portion of the new tax revenues would also be used to expand health coverage for medically underserved adults and to fund tobacco prevention programs.

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pdx10 - 19-07.mp3

This week, City Club hosts a forum with Senators Alan Bates (D-Ashland) and Ben Westlund (D-Bend), co-chairs of the Senate Special Committee on Health Care Reform. Bates and Westlund are making health care a top priority in their agendas and are embarking on a 17-stop tour of Oregon, offering their views on health care reform and what the Legislature can do today to address what they term as "a health care crisis."

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Track No01.mp3