Oregon Capital Chronicle

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Ryan Patraw process ballots at the Marion County Clerk’s Office in Salem on Monday, May 16. Each ballot goes through several steps before it is scanned to have the vote tabulated. | RON COOPER/OREGON CAPITAL CHRONICLE

Wyden, Merkley press Medicaid administrator on Oregon automatic voter registration expansion

A new state law will automatically add Medicaid recipients to state voter rolls, but only if the federal government allows the Oregon Health Authority to share data

Aug 22, 2023

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Cannabis at Sol Sisters Farms in Oregon. The state legalized recreational use of marijuana in 2015. | OREGON DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Study: Marijuana use increases among young adults after legalization

Nationally, rates of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder are up among non-college-attending young adults and use is up slightly among students

Aug 15, 2023

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U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra visits with U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oregon, on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, in a roundtable discussion in Portland about preventing youth overdoses from fentanyl. Bonamici is planning legislation that would make a prevention curriculum available nationwide in schools. | BEN BOTKIN/OREGON CAPITAL CHRONICLE

Oregon’s U.S. congressional delegation wants opioid prevention efforts to go nationwide

The Health and Human Services secretary visited Oregon on Friday and participated in a roundtable at a Beaverton school

Aug 8, 2023

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DANIEL AGRELO/PIXABAY

Data breach affects 1.7 million current and former Oregon Health Plan members

The May 30 breach happened through the state’s coordinated care organizations and included identifying and health record information

Aug 2, 2023

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Chris Edwards (front left) and Saihou Suwaneh, two Oregon Department of Human Services workers, participate in a picket in front of the agency’s headquarters in Salem on March 9, 2023. | BEN BOTKIN/OREGON CAPITAL CHRONICLE

Oregon state caregivers ask Gov. Kotek to fire their boss

Department of Human Services workers who care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities say their workplaces are unsafe and that they’re burned out

Jul 25, 2023

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U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. | LOUIS VELAZQUEZ/UNSPLASH

Nearly 50 congressional Democrats urge tighter regulations protecting medical records

Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Sara Jacobs of California spearheaded the letter to the Health and Human Services secretary

Jul 25, 2023

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Planned Parenthood clinic in Portland, Ore. | COURTESY PLANNED PARENTHOOD

Nonprofit awards $5 million to widen abortion access in Oregon

The money stems from a $15 million allocation by the Legislature in 2022 to increase abortion access

Jul 20, 2023

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YEONHEE LEE/PIXABAY

Oregon’s 988 suicide prevention hotline sees jump in demand

The increased use of 988 does not appear to have decreased the overall number of suicides in the state

Jul 18, 2023

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Drug-resistant, Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria, the pathogen responsible for causing the disease tuberculosis. | CDC/UNSPLASH

Overuse of antibiotics leading to dangerous ‘superbugs’ examined by U.S. Senate panel

Congress is considering the Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance (PASTEUR) Act, which would change how the U.S. approaches antibiotics

Jul 12, 2023

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Statue of Liberty | PIXOURCE/PIXABAY

Oregon expands free health insurance for low-income Oregonians regardless of immigration status

Oregon Health Authority said 40,000 immigrants who had received state-funded emergency health coverage were switched to the new program on July 1

Jul 7, 2023