Oregon Public Broadcasting

Governor Ted Kulongoski signed a bill Tuesday, that extends health coverage to every child in Oregon. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

The bill extends coverage to 80,000 children and 35,000 low-income adults – in essence cutting the number of uninsured people in Oregon by one third.

Ted Kulongoski: “The legacy that each of us wants to leave for the future is: we were the generation who took care of our children and gave them a chance. And this effort today with health care is the first step on that journey.”

Governor Kulongoski praised hospitals and health insurance companies for taking on the 1 percent tax, to pay for this expansion of the Oregon Health Plan.

The hope among those businesses is that instead of treating kids who arrive at the ER with advanced diseases, parents will now take their children to doctors regularly - making any health problems easier to deal with and less expensive.