Mid-valley health care activists are weighing the pros and cons of a draft plan to revamp Oregon's medical service delivery system, and they want the public to join the conversation.

Created by the passage of Senate Bill 329 last year, the Oregon Health Fund Board was charged with creating a blueprint for overhauling health care in Oregon and recommending reforms to the 2009 Legislature.

The board has come up with a draft plan and has scheduled a series of town hall meetings around the state, including one on Sept. 17 in Corvallis. Mid-valley health reform groups have been active in the process and are hoping for a big turnout.

"We'd like to see 200 people there," said Betty Johnson, chairwoman of Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates.

"I think the Oregon Health Fund Board needs to hear from the people whether or not what they've come up with as a plan really resonates with people," said Johnson, one of seven mid-valley residents who hold posts on board subcommittees.

To help people voice their opinions, Mid-Valley Health Care Advocates is partnering with the Oregon chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program and the Albany and Corvallis chapters of the Archimedes Movement on a workshop in Corvallis on Wednesday.

The meeting will offer a preview of the draft reform plan and encourage discussion of the document's strengths and weaknesses.

The idea is to help people formulate informed opinions in advance of the town hall meeting so they can provide meaningful feedback to the Oregon board.

No town hall meetings are slated for Linn County, so activists there are urging folks to travel to Corvallis to make their voices heard.

"We're trying to spread the word," said Edie Orner of the Albany chapter of the Archimedes Movement, a statewide reform group launched by former Gov. John Kitzhaber.

"We're not pushing a particular position. We just want to know if this is what people want," Johnson added. "This is the democratic process."

The draft plan is available for review at the Oregon Health Fund Web site, http://healthfundboard.

oregon.gov.

The highlights:

• The creation of an Oregon Health Authority to consolidate existing state programs and drive ongoing reform efforts.

• Using a provider tax to expand government medical coverage to an additional 200,000 children and adults.

• A shift in emphasis to prevention, disease management and primary care.

• A unified purchasing program to cut costs.

• A push for federal waivers and policy changes to support reforms in Oregon.

What the plan doesn't do is cover all of Oregon's 576,000 uninsured citizens, at least not right away. The draft also puts off defining a benefits package until 2011 and delays setting up an insurance exchange for sliding-scale coverage until 2013.