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A key component of the Oregon Health Plan will survive in at least some form for now, after a bill to reshape how the state determines the plan’s benefits died in committee.
The original version of House Bill 4003 would have removed references in state law to the prioritized list, a longstanding system in Oregon’s Medicaid program for determining what benefits the state’s largest health insurance plan covers.
The Oregon Health Authority said the bill would help it comply with federal Medicaid requirements, given that the state’s Medicaid waiver is set to expire at the end of this year. The bill’s sponsor, Health Committee Chair Rep. Rob Nosse, (R-Portland), had said a a gap between federal rules and Oregon law regarding its Medicaid plan could create a liability for the state.
Opponents, notably former Gov. John Kitzhaber, said the bill wasn’t necessary at all and would create confusion for Medicaid insurers at a time when the system is already under considerable strain. They said Oregon could work out its differences with the feds administratively, without making such a significant change to a longstanding feature of its law—especially given the rushed timeline of the short legislative session.
The Lund Report first reported that the bill had stalled out. It was scheduled for a work session Thursday. But that morning, Nosse told WW the bill “is dead.”
Nosse said the bill had lost support, as health committee members members were moved by advocacy against the bill from coordinated care organizations and by Kitzhaber.
In a letter to health committee members dated Feb. 11, OHA Director Sejal Hathi said even if the bill did not pass, her agency would amend the Oregon Health Plan administratively to comply with the feds.
The agency, her letter said, would “make the changes necessary, and only those changes, to the structure of the Prioritized List to be in compliance with federal law and regulation.”
Meanwhile, she added, the OHA would “seek to preserve the spirit and permissible portions of the Prioritized List as it operates today.”
Later, addressing those who had attended the Thursday health committee meeting because HB 4003 was on the agenda, Nosse, noting that the bill had been scuttled, referenced OHA plans for a rule making process and stakeholder engagement.
“And then if there are statute changes we need to make,” he said, “we’ll think about doing that in 2027.”
