Governor’s budget and next steps for Oregon’s health care
Governor Brown’s recently released budget prioritizes services for children and families struggling to make ends meet, while closing the state’s $1.7 billion budget gap. The budget preserves eligibility and benefits for vulnerable Oregonians and low-income working families who have gained health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The budget maintains current programs that advance the health of Oregonians through a combination of strategic investments, tough choices and shared funding responsibility with health system partners.
 The Oregon Health Plan (OHP) provides needed health coverage to approximately 1 million people, or more than one in four Oregonians and more than one in three Oregonians in many rural counties. It’s the largest health plan in the state and the engine for the health transformations that have improved health outcomes and saved taxpayers more than $1.3 billion since 2009.
Key elements of the Governor’s budget include:
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Maintains OHP benefits at current levels: The Governor’s budget maintains coverage for the most vulnerable Oregonians, low-income working families and their children by backfilling the loss of $352 million in federal funding.
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Expands health coverage for Oregon’s most vulnerable population – children: Through Cover All Kids, Oregon would extend health coverage for nearly 12,000 children who are currently ineligible ($55 million in general fund dollars for the biennium), due to immigration status.
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Maintains Oregon’s investment in community-based behavioral health services: The Governor’s budget maintains the $105 million in new investments in community-based behavioral health treatment Oregon has made in the past four years. This is critical to ensuring Oregon’s behavioral health system works for all Oregonians. It’s also a foundation for further improvements in our statewide behavioral health system, which we will pursue based on recommendations from the Behavioral Health Collaborative.
Shared responsibility for a sustainably funded health system
The Governor’s budget would put Oregon’s innovative Medicaid program on a sustainable path, despite the state’s current fiscal constraints. It accomplishes this goal through shared responsibility with the health system partners who have the greatest stake in the strength of Oregon’s health system and would share a greater role in contributing to its stability.
Reductions and difficult decisions
Maintaining current health programs within Oregon’s present resource constraints required some very difficult choices for the Governor. These difficult recommendations include:
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Junction City closure: The hardest choice is the proposed closure of the Junction City campus of Oregon State Hospital (OSH) in 2018, which currently operates 100 beds with 357 staff. While Junction City has played an important role in OSH’s ongoing transformation as an innovative leader among state hospitals, closure of the facility will enable the state to maintain the investments Oregon has made in community-based behavioral health treatment in the past four years. It also will help us meet our obligations under the performance plan we developed with the United States Department of Justice this summer to reduce institutionalization for adults with serious and persistent mental illness.
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Public health modernization: The Governor’s budget was unable to fund additional public health modernization due to the state’s resource constraints. However, public health modernization remains a priority for OHA and state leaders. Oregon’s public health leaders have done exceptional work to identify the gaps in Oregon’s public health capacity. We will continue to advance the modernization of Oregon’s public health capabilities in collaboration with local public health departments and community partners and look for ways to improve system capacity without additional resources.
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Reduce administrative overhead: The Governor’s budget includes a $15 million reduction in administrative costs for the agency.
An important step in the budget process
The Governor’s budget is an important step in the budget process, but it is just a starting point. Oregon Health Authority looks forward to working with the Governor, legislators and partners to solve our budget challenges and maintain health programs for all Oregonians.
Oregon continues to seek waiver renewal
 Work has been underway since last summer to renew Oregon’s current Medicaid waiver. The waiver has provided flexibility that has been a catalyst for the state’s health reforms. Oregon’s current waiver does not expire until next summer. However, we are continuing to work with our federal partners to renew the current waiver early in 2017 and sustain Oregon’s success in improving health care and holding down costs.
A priority of the new Congress and administration in Washington, D.C. is to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which could have an impact on Oregon’s Medicaid program. Governor Kate Brown has stated that one of her goals is to protect the hard-fought gains Oregon has made in reducing the number of uninsured Oregonians: Oregon’s uninsured rate has dropped from 15 percent to 5 percent in the past five years. Currently, 95 percent of Oregon adults and 98 percent of children have health coverage.
Oregon has a long history of bipartisan health care reform. Governor Brown said, “We stand ready to work with Congress to make improvement necessary to ensure all Oregonians have access to affordable, high quality health care coverage. Today, 95% of all Oregonians have access to health care coverage and we seek changes that move us forward, not backward.”
Look for more information in the January edition of Oregon Health Update.
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Semi-Annual OHA Stakeholder Meeting
OHA will be holding its semi-annual stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, January 18 from 2-4 p.m. in Portland. OHA Director Lynne Saxton and members of her Leadership Team will be present to answer questions and review goals for the upcoming legislative session.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bi-annual-oha-stakeholder-meeting-tickets-30559092067
To help us align our agenda, please include what you would like to discuss in the comments. We will cover as many topics as possible in the available time. Space is limited and there will not be a call-in option, so please RSVP to reserve your spot.
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