Bill Text: OR SB972 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the study of alternative funding for health care; declaring an emergency.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2011-06-30 - In committee upon adjournment. [SB972 Detail]
Download: Oregon-2011-SB972-Introduced.html
76th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2011 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 4033
Senate Bill 972
Sponsored by Senators MORSE, MONNES ANDERSON, KRUSE, BATES;
Senator SHIELDS (at the request of John DiLorenzo, Jr.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Directs Oregon Health Authority to develop plan for providing
health care coverage for all Oregonians, including
recommendations for constitutionally-dedicated sales tax,
assumptions regarding private sector health care delivery options
and elimination of need of employers to provide health insurance
coverage to employees, and options to eliminate plan deductibles
for persons below certain levels of federal poverty guidelines.
Directs authority to submit plan to interim health care
committees of Legislative Assembly no later than 60 days
preceding date of convening of 2012 regular session of
Legislative Assembly.
Declares emergency, effective on passage.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to the study of alternative funding for health care; and
declaring an emergency.
Whereas the current health care system is unaffordable and
unsustainable; and
Whereas employers are eliminating or limiting coverage; and
Whereas an increasing number of individuals can no longer
afford health insurance; and
Whereas under section 1332 of the federal Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act (the State Ingenuity Amendment) states
may design their own health care plans provided they meet minimum
federal standards; and
Whereas, if the federal government approves a state's waiver,
tax credits and subsidies that otherwise would be provided for
those who are required to purchase insurance under the federal
Act will be monetized and distributed to the state plan to lower
the expenses of the operations of the state plan; and
Whereas Oregon should take advantage of the State Ingenuity
Amendment to continue the state's tradition of leadership through
innovation; and
Whereas an Oregon Health Care Ingenuity Plan can remedy major
failings of the current health care system, including the lack of
coverage for children and the linkage of health care benefits to
employment status; and
Whereas an Oregon Health Care Ingenuity Plan should provide
essential benefits, including preventive care and hospitalization
services, and should allow an opportunity to buy additional
coverage not included in the basic plan; and
Whereas an Oregon Health Care Ingenuity Plan should eliminate
or limit the present cost shifting between the uninsured,
underinsured and fully insured; and
Whereas instead of a group consisting of a tenured and aging
workforce more reliant on health services as time goes on, the
Oregon essential benefits group should consist of every legal
resident of the state, including every child and every healthy
person who is currently uninsured; and
Whereas under an Oregon Health Care Ingenuity Plan every
Oregonian should pay his or her fair share for coverage; and
Whereas, unlike the federal plan, under an Oregon Health Care
Ingenuity Plan there should be no fines or punitive measures
taken to force anyone to buy insurance; and
Whereas an Oregon Health Care Ingenuity Plan could provide
substantial savings because the plan would cover the medical side
of workers' compensation expenditures, resulting in the state no
longer having redundant Oregon Health Plan expenditures; and
Whereas an Oregon Health Care Ingenuity Plan should place
Oregon at a competitive advantage with respect to other states
because labor intensive employers could look to Oregon as a place
where employers could locate headquarters or facilities and save
significant portions of payroll costs by virtue of no longer
having to pay for essential health care benefits; now, therefore,
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. { + (1) The Oregon Health Authority shall provide
to the interim committees of the Legislative Assembly having
jurisdiction over health care policy, not later than 60 days
preceding the date of convening of the 2012 regular session of
the Legislative Assembly, a plan for providing health care
coverage to all Oregonians that meets the public health goals,
strategies, programs and performance standards adopted by the
Oregon Health Policy Board to improve the health of all
Oregonians.
(2) The plan must:
(a) Recommend a broad-based and constitutionally-dedicated
funding source consisting of a sales tax, and avoid any tax based
on income or payroll.
(b) Permit this state to obtain a waiver of the requirements of
the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L.
111-148) under section 1332 of the federal Act.
(c) Identify all sources of federal funds that can be monetized
and returned to this state for use in providing health care
coverage to all Oregonians.
(d) Identify program savings that could be achieved through
providing health care coverage to all Oregonians, including but
not limited to replacement of the Oregon Health Plan and the
medical care portion of workers' compensation, and assume that
the program savings could be used to finance the state health
care system.
(e) Assume that the role of the plan will be to collect and
distribute revenues while preserving private sector delivery
options and optimizing consumer choice in health care.
(f) Assume that Oregon employers will no longer need to provide
health insurance to employees unless they wish to purchase
coverage for employees that exceeds essential health benefits.
(g) Provide essential health benefits, including preventive
care and hospitalization services, and allow an opportunity for
accessing markets to buy additional coverage not included in the
basic plan.
(h) Provide for reasonable residency or other qualifications
for participation.
(i) Provide a mechanism for cost containment and risk
management.
(j) Provide for Oregonians who earn above 400 percent of the
federal poverty guidelines a deductible plan to match health
savings accounts, which could be contributed to by employees and
employers.
(k) Provide that for Oregonians who earn no more than 400
percent of the federal poverty guidelines there shall be no
deductible, and that the plan complies with federal coverage
requirements.
(3) The authority shall:
(a) Submit the plan in the manner provided in ORS 192.245.
(b) Prepare and submit the plan using funds existing in the
authority's legislatively-adopted budget for the biennium
beginning July 1, 2011, without reallocation of resources. + }
SECTION 2. { + Section 1 of this 2011 Act is repealed on June
30, 2012. + }
SECTION 3. { + This 2011 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2011 Act takes effect on its
passage. + }
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