Building a budget based on health

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." ~Yogi Berra

Governor Kitzhaber has asked all state agencies to be focused on outcomes and improvements when they build their budget and to also think about how investments made now will affect the budgets to come in the future. You can read more about the 10-year budget plan here.

In that budget plan, key strategies that fall into the OHA budget include:

• Fundamentally changing how health care is delivered in Oregon.
• Shifting resources to focus on prevention of chronic disease.
• Ensuring access to sufficient, nutritious and affordable food for all Oregonians.

We have already started to change the way health care is delivered with the creation of Coordinated Care Organizations to improve delivery of care under the Oregon Health Plan.

That’s an important leap forward. And there is still much more to do.

To that end, as the Oregon Health Authority begins putting together a budget for 2013-2015, we will be looking at how every program and expenditure supports the vision of a healthier Oregon at all points in life.

As we work to build the 2013-2015 budget, we want to hear from you. You can find information about the OHA budget and a survey about priorities for 2013-2015 here.

Although we have a long path before we truly have a healthier Oregon, the transformation of the health care system under way shows how much we can accomplish if we focus our attention, our efforts and our resources on solving the problems before us.