Everyone deserves access to high-quality, affordable healthcare—and I will fight to make sure every Oregonian can get the care they need, no matter where they live, where they work, or how much money they make. Working families shouldn't have to choose between keeping the lights on and visiting the doctor. No one should face financial ruin because they got sick. And expectant mothers shouldn't have to drive hours to safely deliver their babies.

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At the center of that commitment is protecting Medicaid, known here as the Oregon Health Plan. OHP provides healthcare to roughly one in three Oregonians, including more than half of Oregon's children. Following the largest federal cuts to Medicaid in the program's history through H.R. 1 ("The One Big Beautiful Bill Act"), healthcare access for approximately 1.4 million Oregonians is at risk. I will fight to protect that care, and work to expand access rather than restrict it.

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But protecting what we have isn't enough. Our healthcare system is too expensive, too complicated, and too often ties access to care to where someone works or how much they can afford. I will pursue immediate opportunities to lower costs and expand access while working toward a healthcare system that treats care as a public good rather than a financial privilege.​ That means:

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• Taking on medical debt: Getting sick shouldn't mean going broke. I will support stronger protections against crushing medical debt, work to prevent medical bills from becoming financial emergencies in the first place, and hold healthcare systems accountable for connecting eligible patients with financial assistance. No family should lose its financial security because someone needed medical care.

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• Confronting the rural healthcare crisis: Rural and smaller communities are losing providers and essential services, forcing families to travel farther for everything from routine appointments to maternity care. I will prioritize support for rural hospitals, community health centers, and local clinics; invest in recruiting and retaining rural providers; and fight to preserve essential services close to home. Your ZIP code should not determine the quality of healthcare you can access.

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• Protecting and expanding the Oregon Health Plan: I will push back against federal efforts to dismantle Medicaid, protect coverage for the Oregonians who rely on it, and look for every opportunity at the state level to preserve and expand access to care.

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• Lowering healthcare and prescription drug costs: I will take on rising premiums, deductibles, prescription drug prices, and out-of-pocket expenses that force working families to delay or go without necessary care.

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• Strengthening Oregon's healthcare workforce: I will prioritize investing in the nurses, physicians, behavioral health professionals, caregivers, and other healthcare workers our communities depend on, while expanding training and workforce pipelines to address persistent provider shortages.

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• Protecting maternal and reproductive healthcare: I will protect the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare—including abortion care—because abortion access is inextricably linked to pregnancy and maternal healthcare. Every Oregonian deserves timely access to the care they need, whether that means contraception, abortion, prenatal care, labor and delivery, miscarriage care, or postpartum support, without cost, distance, or political interference putting that essential care out of reach.

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• Expanding behavioral healthcare: I will push for a stronger continuum of mental health and substance use treatment—from prevention and outpatient services to crisis response and residential care—so people can get help when they need it.

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• Working toward a single-payer system: I support exploring a single-payer healthcare system in Oregon that can lower costs for working families, eliminate coverage gaps, reduce administrative waste, and free working people from being trapped in jobs simply to keep their health insurance. That sounds like freedom to me. Transforming our healthcare system won't be easy, but difficulty isn't a reason to accept a system that isn't working.​

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Healthcare shouldn't be a luxury, and getting sick shouldn't threaten a family's financial stability. No Oregonian should have to choose between getting the care they need and paying for groceries, housing, childcare, or utilities. Healthy people build healthy communities—and every Oregonian deserves that foundation.