What's Happening in Portland, OR…

Oregon Health Authority (OHA) officials have completed their list of two dozen requests, known as “legislative concepts,” for the state’s legislature consideration.

These legislative concepts, defined as early versions of bills, will be formally submitted to lawmakers in January when the new state legislature convenes. Among these requests will be for Oregon to install its own state-based insurance marketplace, ease the bottleneck at the state’s hospital and provide Portland Medicaid recipients and those throughout the state with more self-determination.

OHA will also be requesting $4.2bn in additional funding that will include $269m to enlarge Oregon’s behavioral health services and $286m to update the state’s public health system. By far the most ambitious request is for the creation of Oregon’s own health insurance marketplace.

Garnering support from the public for legislative proposals often involves assistance from a flyer printing service to explain the benefits and potential pitfalls.

At present, 33 states, including Oregon, do not have their own site providing federally subsidized plans, instead their residents must go to the federal marketplace site. The District of Columbia along with 18 states operate their own insurance exchanges and the OHA wants Oregon to be among them.

The Oregon Health Authority believes a state-based exchange could serve the 320,000 residents that are not served by the federal marketplace, providing half what the state pays the U.S. government for the use of their healthcare exchange.