It was probably our best chance ever at health care reform at the federal level — a Democratic president, a Democratic majority in Congress, and health care costs still soaring out of control. But many health care reformers think it was a badly fumbled opportunity.
Some significant changes are on the way as the result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. On September 23, 2010, six months after the bill was signed, it will become easier for parents to cover adult children, harder for insurance companies to cancel health policies, and more economical for small employers to provide health insurance for their employees.
Many other reforms begin in 2014, including expansion of coverage under Medicaid (Oregon Health Plan). Most of us will be required to have health insurance and the federal government will subsidize that coverage for some of us. A new health insurance exchange is intended to lower premium costs.
Oregon is in a unique position to move forward quickly with federal reforms, especially the insurance exchange, because of the work of the new Oregon Health Authority and Health Policy Board, which were created after the passage of HB 2009 in June 2009. The law requires that the Health Policy Board propose a plan to the 2011 legislature to achieve universal coverage by 2015. Meanwhile, work is progressing on plans for an insurance exchange and a public plan, strengthening community health centers, improving quality of care and reducing disparities in health care quality and access.
Health Care for All-Oregon advocates were actively involved in the passage of HB2009 and have been monitoring its implementation, particularly regarding the insurance exchange and the public plan. The public plan, of course, was a very controversial issue in the federal legislative debate and was ultimately omitted; a public plan will be included in the proposal presented to the Oregon legislature in 2011, but the details are not yet clear. Oregon could lead the nation with this step towards the more comprehensive public plan we are working to achieve. Your help is needed: contact the Oregon Health Policy Board and your state legislators and let them know we want a strong public plan.
There is still much to be done to achieve quality, affordable health care for ALL Oregonians. Your voice and involvement are critically important. You can find more information about the work of Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Health Policy Board at http://www.oregon.gov/oha/ohpb
The federal health care reform will do little to control costs or provide universal access to secure and affordable health care for all Americans. The bill clearly throws health care reform back to the states for the time being. In addition to working on the reforms listed above, HCAO is working with other advocates to try to craft an Oregon single payer bill for the Oregon legislature to consider in their next session—stay tuned!