Oregon Health Insurance Law

In 2003, Oregon passed a law instituting the "Oregon Health Plan" (OHP) program, aiming to reduce the amount of money the state pays for the care of Medicaid patients. Besides reducing overall costs, the law intended to extend Medicaid coverage to a larger percentage of the state's low-income population.

Purpose

• Rather than responding to increasing Medicaid cost to the state by lowering Medicaid income requirements and excluding many below the federal poverty level, Oregon, instead, instituted the OHP. OHP guaranteed Medicaid to those living below the federal poverty line by instituting cost-saving changes to the state's Medicaid system.

Impact

• OHP established a system of prioritizing covered health care services based on overall benefit to the state population's health status. According to a Richmond University paper examining the law, 57 percent of Oregonians below the federal poverty level were eligible for coverage prior to OHP. After OHP's passage, all residents below the federal poverty line gained access to Medicaid.

Expert Insight

• In 2008, Robert Gluckmann of the Oregon chapter of the American College of Physicians told the "Annals of Internal Medicine," "the issue of devoting health care resources. . . to optimize the health of the public was well accepted in Oregon." Dr. Jeanene Smith of the Office for Oregon Health Policy Research summarized the reaction of the medical community, saying in the "Annals of Internal Medicine," "we want to pay for what is effective and not pay for what is not."