2025 is here and a new legislative session has begun in Oregon! Every year, PANOW tracks a variety of legislation relevant to the communities we serve and the work we do to improve access to health and social care in our state. Some of the legislation we’ll be tracking this session can be found below. If you’re interested in any of these bills, visit the provided link to find information about bill sponsors, public hearings, how to submit comment, and more on the Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS). Advocacy is a central pillar of Project Access NOW’s mission, and we encourage folks from our community to engage too!
Representative Ben Bowman will reintroduce a revised version of this bill from last session, which was on track to pass but failed at the last minute. The legislation will close loopholes in Oregon’s regulations regarding ownership of medical practices and seeks to control the influence of corporate management service organizations. Critics say these organizations focus on profits and not patient care. The organization will also ban noncompete, nondisclosure, and nondisparagement agreements between health entities and medical professionals. Bowman convened a workgroup last year to address concerns that arose the last time this legislation was introduced, and supporters claim that those concerns have been addressed in the new version.
Government grants and contracts provide a critical funding source for nonprofit organizations like PANOW doing important work in fields ranging from housing, health care, youth services, and much more in our communities. They also provide an avenue for the state to partner with community and incorporate them into solutions. For many years, nonprofits have experienced numerous challenges with state grants in Oregon, including inconsistent reporting requirements, late payments and reimbursement payment methods, high workforce turnover rates due to flat grant funding, and an overall inefficient state grantmaking system that relies on each state agency to develop its own grant process without consistency and standardization. SB 602 would update and streamline Oregon’s grant funding and contracting procedures, shift to up-front payment systems that would allow nonprofits to provide services more efficiently, and require agencies to monitor the timeliness of payments to grantees.
Have you ever received a medical bill that included an unexpected fee for receiving services at an off-campus hospital-owned facility? These fees are known as “facility fees” and they can create undue stress and financial burden on patients seeking essential care. SB 539 would improve transparency by requiring hospitals to give notice to patients in advance if a facility fee will be charged for their care and by requiring hospitals to report data about the facility fees they charge annually to the Oregon Health Authority. The bill would also restrict hospitals to only collect facility fees for services provided on a hospital campus and only for care that does not fall under routine medical services. Supporters believe this will improve cost transparency and affordability for patients in Oregon.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a federal program that provides monthly food assistance for individuals in need. Traditionally, eligibility requirements for this program have mandated that enrollees be either U.S. citizens or certain lawfully present non-citizens. SB 611 would extend SNAP benefits to individuals of any immigration status, as long as they meet other eligibility requirements for the program like income level. Similar legislation passed in 2021 called Healthier Oregon that extends Oregon Health Plan benefits to individuals of any immigration status has been very successful in providing critical services to a historically marginalized population.
It’s no secret that medical debt is a crippling challenge for many Americans. Significant medical debt can affect an individual’s ability to seek housing, get a job, buy a car, or do many of the things Americans need to do to survive every day. Medical debt is also not indicative of the ability of an individual to pay future bills and, therefore, should not be present in credit reporting. It’s often the result of a dispute between the provider and insurer over how much of the cost will be covered. In the meantime, the provider bills the patient for the full cost of services, even though the insurer will end up covering some or all the costs. SB 605 seeks to prohibit medical service providers from reporting debt that a patient owes for medical services to a credit bureau or consumer reporting agency.
Representative Travis Nelson introduced this bill that seeks to enact protections for workers in health care settings against violence and other safety risks. If passed, it would require health care entities to submit reports on workplace violence incidents and take certain actions to protect workers against them. It would also direct the Oregon Health Authority to provide grant funding to eligible health care entities to implement violence prevention efforts. Workplace violence incidents have risen in recent years in healthcare settings and supporters of this bill hope to increase safety for workers.
Healthier Oregon is a program that was implemented as a result of HB 3352 from the 2021 Legislative Session. It expanded eligibility for the Oregon Health Plan to individuals of any immigration status who otherwise meet eligibility requirements. As a result of this program and the hard work of community organizations across the state in community outreach and enrollment, Oregon’s insured rate has risen to 97%. Healthier Oregon’s funding is up for renewal in this session’s budgetary review, and Project Access NOW is encouraging the legislature to continue to fully fund the program and ensure that Oregon’s insured rate not only maintains but continues to rise.
Our legislature trades off what are referred to as “long sessions” and “short sessions” every year: short sessions are in even years, and long sessions are in odd years. 2025 is a long session, convening on January 21st and adjourning on June 30th. Settle in and stay tuned for more session updates from PANOW over the coming months!
