Tabor Porter looks at the dozen prescription bottles set in front of him.
“These are the pills I have to take daily, twice a day,” he said. “And I start out with my ‘cocktail,’ which is just a fancy word for chemotherapy.”
Porter, 66, has been on the “cocktail” since he was diagnosed with AIDS in 1996, after a decade living as HIV positive. Developed just before Porter learned he had moved to a full AIDS diagnosis, the cocktail has kept him and thousands of others alive.
The cocktail works. It’s also very expensive. Porter says those 12 pill bottles would cost him over $10,000 a month.
His medications are covered by Medicaid. Porter says that coverage is as important as the cocktail in keeping him alive. He said losing coverage would be a death sentence.
“Without having my medications covered, I would die,” he said.
Porter is one of nearly one million Oregonians covered by Medicaid, also known as the Oregon Health Plan or “OHP.” Thanks to the program’s expansion made possible by the Affordable Care Act, Oregon’s uninsured rate has dropped to 6 percent, almost two-thirds lower than in 2011 (when 15 percent had no coverage). For Tabor Porter and thousands of Oregonians, Medicaid is the difference between life and death. Unfortunately, Medicaid in Oregon and across the country is threatened by a proposed rule change that would cut more than $4.9 billion per year, or about 60 percent, of state and federal funding. Thousands could lose coverage. There is also a case moving through the courts that would overturn the Affordable Care Act, which is the foundation for Medicaid expansions in Oregon and other states.
Porter has survived but is worried about threats to Medicaid. He knows through personal experience how high the stakes are. “I had a lot of friends die all around me.”
Protect Tabor’s Medicaid
Porter lives with his partner in their home perched in hills. He makes jewelry, much of it silver adorned with garnets and other stones, in his basement workshop. The workshop is filled with all manner of creative pieces, including items from other cultures and an assortment of whimsical found objects that he will fashion into something new. He shows an old Buck Rogers toy spaceship that he replicated and cast into brass. The finished piece will be polished and have jewels in the ship’s windows and be worn around the neck. “This basement is where all the little trolls work and all the little elves work,” he said. “It’s where I am a lot, and I love it down here.”
His pieces are featured in the River Sea Gallery in downtown Astoria. Sales supplement his modest income.
Porter’s art provides a creative outlet and a mental release from his illness. There are many days when he is not feeling well enough to schedule activities before noon. Porter believes making jewelry, along with his Medicaid coverage has helped him survive all these years.
“What’s kept me alive, Medicaid has kept my body going, but art has kept my head going. And without both of those, I would be dead.
“I don’t expect to live forever, but I’m getting a long life with Medicaid. And, I’m grateful.”
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People like Tabor depend on concerned Oregonians like you to fight to protect medicaid. Please join us in helping Tabor and others. Add your name today!