Report: Oregon Dem Gov Kate Brown Raises Healthcare Premiums On College Students, Teachers and Small Businesses

Oregon Democrat Kate Brown has already been blasted for numerous tax increases during her tenure as governor, and now her failed policies are starting to hurt key constituencies in the state.

The Oregonian editorial board explains that a health care tax Kate Brown signed into law, which is up this month for a statewide referendum vote, is already raising healthcare premiums on college students, small businesses and schoolteachers.

“Insurers not only ‘may’ increase their premiums. They already have. A spokesman for the Department of Consumer and Business Services said the agency has already added the 1.5 percent increase into insurers’ authorized 2018 rates in the individual and small-group market.”

“Who are the customers footing the tax? Thousands of college students who are required to buy health insurance offered through their schools, small businesses that provide health plans for their employees and others who buy their insurance through the health exchange. The law also levies the premium tax on K-12 school districts and the Public Employees Benefit Board.”

Kate Brown is alienating key Democratic party constituencies in her zealous pursuit of tax increases, threatening her re-election prospects. Voters are starting to see her for who she really is – a career politician who cares more about taxing college students, educators and small businesses than actually educating them and growing the economy.