[NFBO-Linn-benton] FW: Invitation to a focus group

[KJocums at iCloud.com]

Hi,

 

Please register for this focus group for 3/11 if you are interested in
Universal healthcare.  The link is below

 

Kristen Jocums

(706)718-8055

 

From: MCDONELL Miriam D * DCBS <Miriam.D.MCDONELL at dcbs.oregon.gov> 
Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2026 4:58 PM
To: 'kjocums at icloud.com' <kjocums at icloud.com>
Cc: COURTELIS Isabel * DCBS <isabel.courtelis at dcbs.oregon.gov>
Subject: Invitation to a focus group 

 

Dear Kristen Jocums,

 

We are reaching out to invite you to participate in a small, virtual focus
group for disability-led organizations as part of the Universal Health Plan
Governance Board's engagement process.

Oregon is at an important moment. Across our state, families, employers,
providers, and communities are feeling the strain of rising costs, workforce
challenges, and a system that too often feels fragmented and difficult to
navigate. For many years, Oregon has been working toward a more equitable,
affordable, and sustainable approach to health care. 

You are being invited because your experience and perspective matter. The
Board wants to ensure its recommendations are grounded not only in policy
analysis, but in the lived realities of the people and organizations that
make Oregon's health system work every day.

The session will be held virtually on March 11th, from 3:00-4:30. Please
register here
<https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/QGMd1h09ThOiLp5d02r4Qg> .

In 2022, the Universal Health Plan Task Force conducted extensive statewide
public engagement and set a vision shaped by Oregonians' values. In 2023,
the Legislature created the Universal Health Plan Governance Board through
SB 1089 to build on that foundation and develop detailed recommendations for
how universal health care could be administered and funded in Oregon.

Since then, the Board and its committees have held more than 123 public
meetings and received public testimony from across the state. The list for
this targeted engagement process is:

* Employers

* Business organizations/associations

* Health care providers and systems

* Health care insurers

* Coordinated Care Organizations

* Health care consumers

* Disability-led organizations

* Community-based organizations

The Board used a criteria-based approach to select organizations for these
focus groups in order to meet legislative requirements, reflect statewide
diversity, and ensure meaningful and balanced input. Not all interested
organizations can be included in every engagement opportunity; an
organization's inclusion or exclusion is not a judgment on its importance,
legitimacy, or the value of its work.

These conversations are intentionally small and designed for candid
dialogue. Each virtual session will include no more than 12 to 15
participants. Board members will not attend, allowing space for open and
honest discussion. 

Participants will hear a summary of the Board's preliminary recommendations
and will be invited, through a facilitated conversation, to share feedback
on specific questions identified by committee leadership. Individual
comments will not be attributed or shared outside the meeting. Feedback will
be summarized in aggregate and incorporated into a report to the Board. 

All input gathered through this process is considered alongside public
testimony, written comments, prior task force findings, and additional
community engagement efforts as the Board refines its recommendations to the
state legislature.

We hope you will join this conversation and help shape the next chapter of
Oregon's health care system.

Please register at your earliest convenience. We would value your
participation. If you need accommodations to attend, please respond to this
email and let us know your needs. If you want to send an alternate, please
let us know so we can match invitations with registrations for the meeting.
We will be sending out materials and the questions a week before the meeting
to those who have registered.

Sincerely,

Miriam D. McDonell, MD, MPHSM (she/her/hers)

Executive Director

Universal Health Plan Governance Board

(971) 260-7678

miriam.d.mcdonell at dcbs.oregon.gov <mailto:miriam.d.mcdonell at dcbs.oregon.gov>




 

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