The Department of Consumer Business Services would absorb the state’s failed insurance exchange.
BY JACOB PALMER | OB DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
The Oregon state Senate passed a bill that aims to end Cover Oregon’s autonomy 20-10 Thursday.
The vote signifies another step in rectifying an embarrassing aspect of ex Gov. John Kitzhaber’s legacy as the failed exchange has prompted a pair of lawsuits between the state and Oracle — Cover Oregon’s tech contractor.
The Associated Press reports:
The change is largely bureaucratic. Oregon would continue operating an insurance exchange under President Obama’s health care law using a federal website. The management would be transferred away from the semiautonomous corporation that now handles it to the Department of Consumer and Business Services. The latter agency is subject to more legislative control.
“I think of Cover Oregon sometimes as a zombie,” said Sen. Alan Bates, D-Medford. “Every time we bury it, another arm comes striking up out of the ground, and I don’t think this bill is going to finish that completely, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
All 18 Democrats in the Senate voted in favor of the bill with two Republicans joining. The measure now heads to the House.
The Portland Tribune reports:
The bill was the product of a joint House-Senate committee appointed in December by Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, and House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland. Because it emerges from a joint committee, the bill will not face additional hearings in the House, which could vote on it within a week. As a public corporation that lawmakers created in 2011, Cover Oregon was not subject to state contracting requirements or legislative scrutiny that a state agency would receive. …
“I am pleased that we have found a new home for providing health care to Oregonians that has bipartisan and stakeholder support,” said Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson, D-Gresham, Senate co-chair of the joint committee. “Now we can move on to the more important business of making sure Oregon businesses can offer quality, affordable health care plans and that more families get the coverage they need.”
Sen. Brian Boquist (R-Dallas) explained why he bucked the partisan line to vote in favor of the bill, as reported by the Statesman Journal:
Boquist said some wanted more detail on Cover Oregon’s fiscal impact, while others thought Cover Oregon should move to SAIF Corp., instead of DCBS. Others were concerned about having the Oregon Insurance Division, which regulates insurance companies, and the health insurance exchange in the same agency. Boquist said he voted yes to protect Oregonians’ tax credits and prevent rate increases.
“We have to act now … we have consequences if we don’t do anything,” he said. “This is the best of the three or four worst choices that we had. It protects people with existing coverage. It ensures there isn’t a rate increase. It provides some time to figure out maybe there’s a better way to skin the cat.”
New Gov. Kate Brown issued a statement celebrating the passage of the bill:
“I applaud the Senate’s bipartisan passage of Senate Bill 1,” Brown said in a statement. “This legislation continues our state-based exchange ensuring that Oregonians have access to quality, affordable health insurance. The improved transparency and accountability measures in Senate Bill 1 are key to building the confidence that Oregonians and the Legislature need for a successful exchange. I look forward to the passage of this bill by the House.”
