State Health Policy

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State Rep. Tawna Sanchez, D-Portland, chatting before a session of the Oregon House on March 21, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Hundreds of health care bills will live or die Friday as a key deadline hits in Salem

Legislative leaders have moved efforts to address medical debt and increase payments for dentists and behavioral health workers, but may not advance bills to protect consumers from surprise fees and boost access to primary care.

Mar 20
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State Rep. Nancy Nathanson, D-Eugene, speaks to the Oregon House Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee on March 20, 2025. Nathanson was testifying in favor of a bill that would give the state attorney general powers to investigate and fine health care monopolies. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Oregon health insurers, hospitals oppose bill to establish oversight by state justice department

State Rep. Nancy Nathanson’s legislation would prohibit contracts like the ones that critics say helped make Lane County a primary care desert last year, but health insurers and others say it goes too far

Mar 20
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SAMARITAN PACIFIC COMMUNITIES HOSPITAL IN NEWPORT./VISITOR7/CC BY-SA 3.0/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Lagging reimbursements from government may mean a merger or new partnership lie in Corvallis-based Samaritan Health’s future

The three-county system has not yet considered specific possibilities for its next move after possibly acquiring Santiam Hospital. But CEO Doug Boysen says ‘all options are on the table’ for Samaritan given a challenging financial landscape that's driving health care restructuring around the state.

Mar 20
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Oregon State Hospital in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 21, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

State wants hospitals to pay more to support the program investigating them

Oregon health officials are asking lawmakers to support a bill that would increase hospital licensing fees by a factor of five to improve outreach and oversight. They'd still be less than in Washington state, but hospital officials say the move would further burden struggling facilities.

Mar 18
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LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

Oregon nurses, doctors split on new workplace violence bill

Health care professions are divided over a bill allowing prison time for people who’ve been convicted of multiple assaults on workers, while a separate bill would boost requirements on hospitals

Mar 18
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SHUTTERSTOCK

Tillamook dialysis center delays prompt new legislation

State Rep. Cyrus Javadi says he’s introducing a bill to ensure delays to a new treatment center for kidney patients don’t happen again, saying ‘this is something we need to fix’

Mar 14
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A hallway in OHSU's main campus in Portland in September 2024 | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Physicians group raises concerns over OHSU-Legacy merger

The Oregon Academy of Family Physicians says patients may pay more to see doctors, urges officials to demand a plan to boost access and address the statewide primary care shortage

Mar 6
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SHUTTERSTOCK

Salem Health-Regence split turns spotlight on insurance company wealth

Power struggles, pressure tactics and public brinksmanship in recent disputes between health insurers and providers — such as hospitals — are all about money. Insurers have it, and providers want more of it.

Mar 4
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Drs. Sharon Quick and Brick Lantz (upper panels), as well as psychologist Angela Plowhead (lower left), testify against a bill that would make far-reaching changes to the Oregon Death with Dignity law during a Oregon Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 3, 2025. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Senators hear passionate arguments over how terminally ill patients end their lives in Oregon

Critics, including the Oregon Medical Association, say a proposal to update state’s Death with Dignity law would rush the process with harmful results

Mar 4
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Oregon House Speaker Julie Fahey (left) and Majority Leader Ben Bowman during a press availability in January 2025. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Revamped Oregon effort to curb corporate medicine faces first test

An earlier push stalled in the face of national opposition from private equity and corporate interests, but sponsors say tweaks to the bill give them hope

Feb 27
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