Senator Jeff Merkley comes from a family of fighters. According to family lore, his grandmother lived for a time in a boxcar during the Great Depression. Jeff’s mother stretched a dollar as far as anyone possibly could, and his father overcame a serious illness and went on to work in a lumber mill and become a union machinist. Life wasn’t glamorous, but together, Jeff’s parents saved enough to buy a modest home, take their children on annual camping vacations, and retire comfortably after a lifetime of contributing to their community.
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.