Oregon

Last fall Oregon moved to the next step on their Basic Health Plan program (via Oregon Public Broadcasting):

Oregon becomes 3rd in nation to seek federal approval for a basic health program

A group of volunteer advisors to the Oregon Health Authority has voted Tuesday to make the state the third in the nation to seek federal approval for a basic health program.

...The Oregon Health Policy Board voted unanimously to approve Oregon’s blueprint application. It was the last step in a lengthy policy-making process needed for state approval of the plan after a task force last year recommended moving forward with it.

OK, I'm back from the Doctors for America conference! I'll be posting a write-up about that soon, but in the meantime I have a backlog of healthcare policy developments to catch up on...

Last fall Oregon moved to the next step on their Basic Health Plan program (via Oregon Public Broadcasting):

Oregon becomes 3rd in nation to seek federal approval for a basic health program

A group of volunteer advisors to the Oregon Health Authority has voted Tuesday to make the state the third in the nation to seek federal approval for a basic health program.

...The Oregon Health Policy Board voted unanimously to approve Oregon’s blueprint application. It was the last step in a lengthy policy-making process needed for state approval of the plan after a task force last year recommended moving forward with it.

Ten years ago, during the very first ACA Open Enrollment Period, Oregon was one of 15 states which attempted to operate their own fully state-based marketplace SBM) under the new law, calling it "Cover Oregon."

Cover Oregon was, along with several of the other original SBMs in Nevada, Maryland, Hawaii and (surprisingly) Massachusetts, a complete and utter failure. They flushed a stunning $248 million down the drain on a website portal which, put simply...didn't work. Like, at all. From April 2014:

Cover Oregon poised to switch to federal insurance exchange

Alex Pettit, the state's top information-technology official, recommended Cover Oregon move to the federal exchange at an advisory committee meeting Thursday.

Oregon should pull the plug on the beleaguered Cover Oregon health insurance exchange and switch to the federal exchange, a technological advisory committee recommended Thursday.

The move is considered almost certain to be adopted by the Cover Oregon board, which meets Friday.

It's been about five months since I last posted about the status of Oregon's pending Basic Health Plan program:

As reported by Megan Messerly of Politico in 2022:

In Oregon, Democrats passed a bill in March to establish a basic health program, the details of which are being ironed out by a task force that began meeting this week. In Kentucky, Republicans approved $4.5 million in state funds this spring to set up a basic health program, which was signed into law by the state’s Democratic governor. An estimated 85,000 Oregonians and at least 37,000 Kentuckians will be eligible to enroll in the plans as soon as next year.

(original post: 5/22/23)

Via the Oregon Dept. of Consumer & Business Services (Division of Financial Regulation):

Salem – Oregon consumers can get a first look at requested rates for 2024 individual and small group health insurance plans, the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) announced today.

In the individual market, six companies submitted rate change requests ranging from an average 3.5 percent to 8.5 percent increase, for a weighted average increase of 6.2 percent. That average increase is slightly lower than last year's requested weighted average increase of 6.7 percent.

In the small group market, eight companies submitted rate change requests ranging from an average 0.8 percent to 12.4 percent increase, for a weighted average increase of 8.1 percent, which is higher than last year's requested 6.9 percent average increase.

About a year ago, I noted that the state of Oregon had passed a bill which, if the federal waiver is approved by the federal government, would make them the third state in the U.S. to establish a Basic Health Plan program under the Affordable Care Act. As reported by Megan Messerly of Politico at the time:

In Oregon, Democrats passed a bill in March to establish a basic health program, the details of which are being ironed out by a task force that began meeting this week. In Kentucky, Republicans approved $4.5 million in state funds this spring to set up a basic health program, which was signed into law by the state’s Democratic governor. An estimated 85,000 Oregonians and at least 37,000 Kentuckians will be eligible to enroll in the plans as soon as next year.

So, I've been combing through a mountain of healthcare & health insurance-related legislation which has been introduced by various state legislators around the country, and this one caught my eye:

OR HB3326

Relating to changing the name of the Oregon Health Authority; declaring an emergency.

The bill summary doesn't provide much more detail:

Changes name of Oregon Health Authority to Oregon Department of Health. Makes conforming changes. Becomes operative on January 1, 2024. Declares emergency, effective on passage.

OK, so it changes the name of the health department and...declares an emergency relating to that? Huh? What?

It was introduced about a month ago by GOP state representative Werner Reschke. It doesn't have any other cosponsors from either party so far.

I decided to take a look at the actual legislative text.

As the dust settles on the 2022 Midterm Election, there was an interesting proposal on the ballot in Oregon which (just barely) won last week:

Measure 111: Enshrine the Right to Health Care in the State Constitution

• Yes: 50.6%
• No: 49.4%

>95% of votes in

Notwithstanding the slim possibility of it ultimately being defeated (Yes is up by around 20,000 votes as of this morning), it's important to understand that Measure 111 doesn't actually enact a specific healthcare coverage program. Here's an explainer of what it does do from More Perfect Union (published prior to it passing):

I originally wrote this post in May; I'm reposting it with some updates below:

I haven't written much about the ACA's Basic Health Plan (BHP) program for awhile, aside from noting that it's well past time for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to start including BHP enrollment in their official Open Enrollment Period reports, seeing how over a million people in Minnesota & New York now have healthcare coverage via BHP policies.

As a refresher, here's Louise Norris' summary explainer:

via the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation:

Salem – People who purchase their own health insurance, as well as those in the small group market, can view the final rate decisions for the 2023 health insurance plans, which have been released by the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation. The division reviews and approves rates through a detailed and transparent process before they can be charged to policyholders.

The division conducted a rigorous review, including holding public hearings and taking public comments, to reach the final decisions. The division published preliminary decisions in July before the public hearings. In the public hearings, members of the public, health insurance companies, and the division have the opportunity to further review and analyze the preliminary decisions.