Rep. Jim Thompson

The former co-chairman of the Oregon House Health Committee was booted out of office in the Republican primary in 2014, but former Rep. Jim Thompson of Dallas believes the more mainstream voters casting ballots in the general election will restore him to office on the Independent Party platform.

While normally a safe Republican seat, moderate Republicans say the seat is now the Democrats' to lose after a primary revolt threw out the incumbent Rep. Jim Thompson in favor of a hard-line conservative. The new dynamic could elevate Davis, who has worked in state healthcare programs for 15 years.

Mike Nearman wants to take the Oregon Republican Party in a new direction, one along Tea Party lines and rid the party of so-called “Republicans In Name Only” that hold sway in the Oregon House. He wants to start with Rep. Jim Thompson, R-Dallas, whom he believes hasn’t done enough to derail the hated Obamacare laws. “He’s content to just get spoon fed whatever Cover Oregon wants,” said Nearman, an information technology professional and the chairman of the Polk County Republicans. “I wouldn’t let John Kitzhaber get away without answering any questions.”

Cover Oregon tried to open its legislative oversight committee to the public, only to have technical errors shut the meeting down 12 minutes after it began when the public telephone line failed to work. The Tuesday meeting was intended to be the first public meeting of the legislative oversight committee, which the Legislature had created to oversee the work of Cover Oregon. Little was known about when these meetings were actually taking place because they were kept secretive and held without access to the public or the media, in possible violation of the Public Meetings Law.

The fallout from the Cover Oregon debacle will not be limited to the failed online insurance exchange and could have major repercussions throughout Oregon’s health system and the coordinated care organization reform efforts, largely due to the loss of longtime public servant Dr. Bruce Goldberg. Last week, Gov. John Kitzhaber announced Goldberg’s resignation -- the health policy leader took responsibility for his role in the state’s failure to effectively manage lackluster web developer Oracle. While Goldberg headed up the Oregon Health Authority, the California technology giant sent Oregon a large infrastructure of bad codes rather than the functioning Amazon.com-style website it had promised, leaving Oregon as the only state where consumers cannot sign up for private health insurance online without assistance.

Cover Oregon kicked The Lund Report out of a meeting with top legislators at its Durham headquarters Tuesday, and barred two Statesman-Journal reporters at the door from entering the office. The reporter from The Lund Report was escorted out of the office by Cover Oregon marketing director Amy Fauver and spokeswoman Ariane Holm, and was told it was a private meeting.

House Bill 4108 helps to coordinate existing programs to exchange lightly used durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs. The House also passed the bill to study the basic health plan and another bill aimed at youth suicide prevention.

Sen. Alan Bates has pushed a bill that will help eliminate unnecessary trips to the drug store by allowing pharmacists to develop prescription drug plans with patients when chronic medications are refilled on the same date each month. The coordination of drug refills should save money and lives by making it easier for patients to adhere to their medication regimens.

Advocates of House Bill 4013 say that allowing doctors to prescribe Schedule II drugs electronically will make life easier for practitioners and pharmacists while cutting down on prescription forgeries.