Oregon Universal Health Plan Group Hastens to Meet Deadline - Willamette week.

HCAO President Valdez Bravo was quoted in reporting by Andrew Schwartz in the Willamette Week on October 9th, 2026.

—But some advocates say it’s time to move. Valdez Bravo of Health Care for All Oregon says this has been no rush job. Though the universal health care idea is only now starting to come across many Oregonians’ radars, he points out that it’s the product of many years of Legislature-directed labor.

He predicts the report will in the coming months turn into a bill. He says that bill, like a snowball, will gather force and size, as lawmakers decide whether to send this thing—the big one—to the voters in 2028.

Of course, it is quite possible that the Legislature will simply decide once again to kick the can down the road. But Valdez says he likes the odds on a bill this coming legislative session. “I think that there has been a lot of good work that has led up to this point,” he says. “And the work’s not over, and ultimately the Legislature is the place where these recommendations and ideas and the representation of all the different constituencies and the people across Oregon will come together to decide if it is ready for prime time.”

He added that, even if the Legislature does produce a measure next year to send to voters in 2028, the vision would not actually go into effect for several years hence. “If you look at it that way,” he said, “it’s definitely not happening too quickly.”