Former state Rep. Rachel Prusak, D-Tualatin/West Linn introduced the bill launching a "bridge health plan" to help people making up to 200% of poverty level. Shown, she talks during a virtual Oregon Health Forum panel in 2020.
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BEN BOTKIN/THE LUND REPORT
While hospitals cite their recent revenue drops and plead for money from lawmakers, they often are sitting on healthy reserve accounts that they built up in the boom years.
The federal government gave the two for-profit hospitals in the state plenty despite the fact that they generate big annual payouts for their out-of-state owners.
Public records reveal tension between political and health concerns at the highest levels of Oregon's government in late April, as reopening plans were finalized.