(SALEM, Ore.) -- Today, State Representative Julie Parrish, acting in her capacity as a political consultant, filed a referendum that, if successful, would remove 350,000 people from Medicaid and increase health care premiums for roughly 200,000 Oregonians.
Parrish’s referral of House Bill 2391 would eliminate the funding for the Oregon Health Plan that passed in a bipartisan vote by the Oregon Legislature and was signed by Governor Kate Brown. The bill has the support of major health care groups, including the Oregon Nurses Association, Oregon Medical Association, the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, 15 coordinated care organizations, and an overwhelming majority of insurers who do business in the state.
Through a provider tax levied on hospitals and members of the health care community that have profited from the Affordable Care Act, the bill ensures that the 1 in 4 Oregonians who rely on the Oregon Health Plan keep their health coverage. The bill also creates a reinsurance pool for the individual market that reduces 2018 premium rates by 6 percent, according to a new release from the Department of Consumer and Business Services. This would lower costs for more than 200,000 Oregonians.
"With the repeal of the Affordable Care Act looming, we need to do everything we can to protect Oregonians and their health care. The care of hundreds of thousands are on the line and Oregon leaders have stepped up to expand protections for families," said former Executive Director of the Oregon Nurses Association Susan King, MS, RN, CEN, FAAN. "This dangerous referral is a step backwards that Oregon kids and families can’t afford."
The Senate health care bill in play in Washington D.C. could cost Oregon up to 42,000 jobs and take away health insurance from 420,000 Oregonians, tripling the state’s uninsured rate.
The Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) was founded in 1904 as the professional association for nurses in Oregon. It is a nonprofit association and a labor union which represents more than 14,000 registered nurses throughout Oregon. ONA’s mission is to advocate for nursing, quality health care and healthy communities. For more information visit www.OregonRN.org.
