Editor's Note: Rep. Lively represents Springfield. His district was incorrectly identified in an earlier version.
March 20, 2013 — The Oregon House voted 39-20 to require private insurers to pay independent nurse practitioners and physician assistants at the same rate they would pay doctors for the same services.
The House Revenue Committee heard two cigarette tax measures last week — one raising the cigarette tax by $1 to $2.18, the other opening the door for Oregon counties to enact their own taxes
The Oregon Drug Monitoring Program was enacted in 2009 to track the prescription of controlled substances, but the ACLU says private medical information was given to the Drug Enforcement Adminstration without a warrant
Senate Bill 444 passed with nearly a two-thirds vote. The bill gives police the ability to write tickets for people seen smoking in cars with children present
The Toxics Disclosure for Healthy Kids Act, pushed by the Oregon Environmental Council, would require large manufacturers to report if 19 toxic chemicals are used in their children’s products, and then phase them out over five years
Legislation on the Medicaid expansion – House Bill 2859 and House Bill 2091 come before the House Health Committee today. Even after the federal government stops fully funding the expansion, the costs to the general fund will be offset by new tax revenues and reimbursements in other areas
HB 2902 is designed to counter cuts made to primary care providers who are not doctors and has resounding support, but similar bills have failed in the past