Oregon added 115,000 people to its state health plan this year – more than any other state.
Legislators passed two bills this year for a significant health reform, creating a new regulatory agency to manage health care across the state and adding thousands more children and adults to the Oregon Health Plan.
Two bills work together to set the reforms in motion:
-House Bill 2009 creates a new regulatory agency, called the Oregon Health Authority, to oversee health care across the state. Its board is charged with reforming the health care system — controlling costs, improving service delivery and increasing insurance options.
-House Bill 2116 raises hospital taxes and imposes a new tax on insurers to pay for adding 80,000 children and 35,000 adults to the Oregon Health Plan. The new tax money will leverage federal funds.
Read the full story at the Statesman Journal.
