The League of Women Voters® of Oregon has produced an in-depth summary of this year’s session. Like the rest of the report, the section on health attempts to report on both the bills passed and the other issues discussed:
Public Health Division: Early childhood prevention programs have been provided under the Public Health umbrella. Babies First, Maternal and Child Health and Women, Infants and Children programs were due to be transferred to the Early Learning Council, but that transfer has not yet taken place. Maternal mental health has been a concern this session. The agency was directed to prepare educational materials for distribution to health care providers and their clients. This division saw funding reductions in Family Planning, Communicable Disease Control, and Emergency Medical Services in the last biennium. For this biennium, proposed funding reductions in contraceptive care, immunizations, school based health centers, and farmers’ market nutrition programs were not taken. Fees for medical marijuana cards, emergency medical licenses, drinking water systems, and radioactive materials were increased to balance this budget. For more information, see Legislative Report 15, 18 and 19.
Medical Assistance Plans: Health care reform implementation has continued to roll out from the last session. The Healthy Kids enrollment met its target and subsidies for uninsured children were established by Private Health Partnerships. The Oregon Health Plan covered adults with disabilities and parents and children on welfare assistance, but coverage for adults without children or disabilities was expanded at a slower rate. Pilot projects for medical home models and telemedicine consultation were initiated. Rural malpractice subsidies were continued, as well as loan forgiveness for medical practitioners, if they practice in rural areas. This Legislature passed bills to be in compliance with the federal health care reform plans. The Health Insurance Exchange bill generated the most controversy. Citizen advocates promoted a public insurance plan or a universal public health care system. The League supports the long term goals, but recognizes a universal care system is not currently financially feasible. The Department of Consumer and Business Services – Insurance Division will report back to the 2012 session with a business plan for the exchange. The delivery of health care for Medicaid clients is currently not financially sustainable. The Legislature will review the rate of expenditures during the interim. Cost control was addressed by the transformation of the system to Coordinated Care Organizations (CCO) which will integrate physical, mental and oral health services. The implementation is anticipated to start in July 2012. The Governor has appointed four workgroups to make recommendations to the 2012 session. Previous coverage of health care bills was in Legislative Report 5, 19, 21 and 23.
Addictions and Mental Health: The Oregon State Hospital operations in Salem, Portland and Pendleton dominate the budget in this division. The Legislature attempted to gain some control over the population by passing bills to require evaluations prior to court trials and admissions for evaluations or commitments for “guilty except for insanity.” Another bill gave the hospital more control over release recommendations when forensic patients were able to return to the community. Residential homes in communities are being developed for those released from the hospital. The site of the new hospital at Junction City is still under development, but construction will not start this session. Community Mental Health has been underfunded for crisis services and regional acute hospitalizations. Budget cuts were taken at the end of the last biennium, and partial funding has been restored for this biennium. Mental health care for Medicaid patients will be included in the CCO model, so integrated physical and mental health care may be more available in the future. For more information, see Legislative Report 8, 9, 18 and 23. Addictions treatment has been mandated in the criminal system and funded as part of the drug court programs, but treatment has not been as available for the general public. The Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission under the Attorney General will be reviewing the effectiveness of current alcohol and drug treatment programs and make recommendations about funding and utilization of resources. Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants sanctions were tightened so that a 3rd time offender would serve 90 days in jail and a 4th time offender would serve 12 months in jail. For more information, see Legislative Report 7, 18 and 23.
See the complete report here.
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