Two major health reform bills passed the Oregon Senate last week and now head to the Governor’s desk, where he has promised to sign them.
The bills pass at a key time, with soaring costs
and an economic recession putting health reform at the top of
the agenda in Salem and Washington, D.C. The bills take important steps to lower skyrocketing health care costs for Oregon families and businesses.
House Bill 2009 aims to control rising costs, while House bill 2116 expands coverage for children and some low-income adults.
Highlights of the bills include:
- Allowing stronger oversight of health insurance rate hikes.
- Cutting red tape by replacing the myriad versions of claims and billing forms with one common electronic form.
- Encouraging adoption of effective health information technology.
- Using best practices in medicine, making sure that doctors and
patients know of the latest, most effective therapies for their
conditions.
- Improving health care cost transparency through an all-payer, all-claims database.
- Establishing the Oregon Health Policy Board with the duty to contain costs, improve quality and expand access.
- Directing the Authority’s Health Policy Board to develop a health insurance exchange, including a possible public plan option.
The bills were developed to enact the first stage
of the health reform plan proposed by the Governor-appointed Oregon
Health Fund Board (OHFB). OSPIRG participated in the OHFB process
throughout 2008, serving on several committees appointed to make
recommendations to the board.
These bills are an exciting step forward and also now set the stage for further reform.
