
Straight from Salem: The road to a public option in Oregon
Catch up on where the bill is and how we got here.
As both an intern for OSPIRG and an Oregonian concerned about the high cost of health care in our state, I’ve been watching HB 2010 closely as it moves through the Legislature. This bill is centered around the concept of a public option – a new insurance plan on the Health Insurance Marketplace with lower premiums and costs designed to meet the needs of folks who don’t qualify for Medicare, Medicaid or employee-sponsored insurance. To me, this seems like a great first step towards establishing truly affordable and universal care for everyone, and I’ve been excited to see how the bill has progressed.
However, as often happens in the legislative process, HB 2010 has undergone some significant changes since it was first introduced in February. Most importantly, it no longer establishes an immediate public option program. Instead, the bill’s sponsors amended it to direct state agencies to create an implementation plan that the Legislature can use in the next session to establish the program with all the potential benefits and design options for the plan. The Committee voted to adopt this amendment and pass the amended bill on the 13th.
Here’s a quick glance at how the bill ended up here and what to expect next:






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Maribeth Guarino
High Value Health Care Advocate, PIRG
Maribeth educates lawmakers and the public about problems in health care and pushes for workable solutions. When she's not researching or lobbying, Maribeth likes to read, play games, and paint.
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