Jeff believes access to quality, affordable health care is not a privilege, but a human right. Jeff’s perspective on health care has been influenced by his wife, Mary, a registered nurse, who sees the world through the eyes of her patients: the people who should be at the heart of our health care system.
Throughout his career, Jeff has fought to expand access to quality, affordable health care coverage. As Speaker of the Oregon House, Jeff lowered prescription drug prices by expanding the state’s bulk purchasing program and fought to expand and improve children’s health care coverage. Jeff continues working to improve health care quality and coverage for all Oregonians in the U.S. Senate.
Merkley, Colleagues: Don’t Leave Flight Crews Behind, Protect Workers’ Right to Pump at Work
Letter: “For flight crews, safety is always the top priority, and we now have decades of evidence demonstrating that flight crews can attend to [breastmilk pumping] in a way that does not disrupt safety, service, or other duties.” Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley led 19 senators
Merkley, Wyden & Hoyle Announce $165,252 to Southern Coos Hospital & Health for Telemedicine in Coos County
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and U.S. Representative Val Hoyle (OR-04) today announced Southern Coos Hospital & Health Center was awarded a federal grant of $165,252 to deliver health care services via telemedicine, directly benefiting 3,066 patients on Oregon’s rural South Coast. “Rural communities
Merkley on 2024 State of the Union Address: America is Strong When Working Families Succeed
Washington, D.C. – Tonight, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley issued the following response to President Joe Biden’s annual State of the Union Address to Congress and Americans:
Merkley, Matsui, Kiggans Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Keep America’s Nurses, Patients Safe
Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Representatives Doris Matsui (D-CA-07) and Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) announced the introduction of the Nurse Overtime and Patient Safety Act. This bicameral, bipartisan bill would provide nurses with stronger federal workplace safeguards. To address staffing-related challenges, nurses are often forced to
Merkley, Wyden, Bonamici: $2 Million for Community Health Clinic Training and Professional Development
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Representative Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01) announced that OCHIN, Inc has received $2,001,642 from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to support OCHINS’s health information technology recruitment and training program for health clinics in underserved communities. Together, Merkley, Wyden, and
Merkley, Colleagues Push to Increase Nursing Education and Workforce Support
Washington, D.C. – Today, Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, along with U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Alex Padilla (D-CA), introduced the bicameral Future Advancement of Academic Nursing (FAAN)