State Health Policy

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An employee of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services helps a consumer pick a health care plan on the federal online health insurance marketplace. | DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AND BUSINESS SERVICES

Oregon health insurers propose premium hikes

Premiums for some individuals and small businesses could go up 8% or more, according to new filings

May 25
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Oregon Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, presiding over the chamber on March 21, 2023. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Stacks of health care bills in limbo as stances harden in Salem

They include legislation impacting Measure 110, hospital staffing levels, the opioid crisis and CCOs

May 25

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THE LUND REPORT ILLUSTRATION/SHUTTERSTOCK

Bills intended to help Oregon pharmacies caught up in walkout

Lawmakers began regulating pharmacy benefit managers in 2015, but the state has never issued an enforcement action

May 23
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SHUTTERSTOCK

Oregon nursing board tackles Florida certification fraud scheme

State says federal probe of “Operation Nightingale” implicated more than a dozen who applied for Oregon licensure — some successfully

May 18
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The Capitol Building in Salem. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Improved Oregon revenue forecast could fund health care improvements

Behavioral health, coverage, workforce loom large on the laundry list of unmet requests facing state lawmakers. A legislative impasse could keep them from going anywhere despite the availability of new funds.

May 18
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Activists on Feb. 13, 2023, protested the proposed closure of Mount Hood Family Birth Center in Gresham. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Legacy’s Gresham maternity unit closure endangered patients, federal regulators say

Blistering federal notice says Legacy’s Gresham-based hospital could lose Medicare payments unless it corrects findings of patient safety violations

May 11
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Oregon State Hospital in Salem. | BEN BOTKIN/THE LUND REPORT

Federal judge considers changes to state hospital discharge order

Changes seek to resolve a conflict between state and federal authorities that prompted the Marion County sheriff to stop transporting discharged Oregon State Hospital patients

May 11
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Oregon State Hospital in Salem. | OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY

Proposed fixes for Oregon State Hospital stall in Legislature

Spending measures and legislation to address long-running litigation over the state’s behavioral health system face an uncertain future 

May 9
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Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem is a maximum-security prison. | COURTESY OF OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS.

Most Oregon prisoners can’t get addiction treatment; there’s a bill to change that

House Bill 2890 would expand access to behavioral health care in state-run corrections facilities, where 90% of prisoners are eventually released

May 8
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Pre-pandemic health care spending exceeded Oregon’s goal, says report

As officials and providers prepare for health spending caps, a new report shows what’s driving the cost increases that are hitting households hard

May 4
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