Final Healthcare Legislative Roundup

July 5, 2011 -- The Oregon Legislature adjourned “sine die,” the Latin term for adjournment, last Thursday at 2:50pm, and in its final week, continued passing significant health-related bills, including the massive overall of the Oregon Health Plan that has been dubbed the “healthcare transformation” bill.

Since some of those bills were approved by the House and Senate on the same day, they appear twice. 

To read the bills, go here.

House

House Bill 2726 modifies the definitions of "cigar bar" and "smoke shop" for purposes of the Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act and directs the Oregon Health Authority to establish a certification system for smoke shops. To read The Lund Report’s coverage of this bill, go here.

Senate Bill 101 creates a new dental program, under the Oregon Health Authority, which will provide children covered by the Oregon Health Plan with comprehensive dental coverage. To read The Lund Report’s coverage of this bill, go here.

Senate Bill 234 makes modifications to the terminology relating to emergency medical service providers.

House Bill 3650, the “healthcare transformation” bill, establishes the Oregon Integrated and Coordinated Health Care Delivery System. The system, which will create “coordinated care organizations” that bring together physical, mental and dental healthcare will replace managed care organizations (MCO) as the method of delivering care for people covered by the Oregon Health Plan. The organizations are expected to begin operating by January 1, 2014. To read The Lund Report’s extensive coverage of this bill, go here.

House Bill 3100 requires that a state-certified psychologist or psychiatrist evaluate a person wanting to plead “guilty except for insanity,” meaning that a mental illness effected a defendant’s behavior so much when he/she committed a crime that the crime would not have been committed otherwise. Misdemeanors and Class-C felons who plead “guilty except for insanity” will also be evaluated to determine whether they can be placed in a community treatment program, rather than at the Oregon State Hospital. To read The Lund Report’s coverage of this bill, go here.

Senate Bill 420 mandates that the Oregon Health Authority will have jurisdiction of the Oregon State Hospital’s forensic patients, or those who have pled “guilty except for insanity.” The Psychiatric Security Review Board will continue to have jurisdiction of patients while they are in community treatment settings. To read The Lund Report’s coverage of this bill, go here.

House Bill 2100 makes numerous technical changes to the laws created by the 2009 Legislative session’s House Bill 2009, which created the Oregon Health Authority. To read The Lund Report’s coverage, go here.

House Bill 2380 prohibits someone from suing a licensed physician or a hospital for injuries suffered by a patient resulting from care given by a direct entry midwife when that midwife was not at the hospital. To read The Lund Report’s coverage of an earlier version of this bill, go here.

Senate

House Bill 3650, the “healthcare transformation” bill, establishes the Oregon Integrated and Coordinated Health Care Delivery System. The system, which will create “coordinated care organizations” that bring together coordinate physical, mental and dental healthcare will replace managed care organizations (MCO) as the method of delivering care for people covered by the Oregon Health Plan. The organizations are expected to begin operating by January 1, 2014. To read The Lund Report’s extensive coverage of this bill, go here.

House Bill 3100 requires that a state-certified psychologist or psychiatrist evaluate a person wanting to plead “guilty except for insanity,” meaning that a mental illness effected a defendant’s behavior so much when he/she committed a crime that the crime would not have been committed otherwise. Misdemeanors and Class-C felons who plead “guilty except for insanity” will also be evaluated to determine whether they can be placed in a community treatment program, rather than at the Oregon State Hospital. To read The Lund Report’s coverage of this bill, go here.

Senate Bill 101 creates a new dental program, under the Oregon Health Authority, which will provide children covered by the Oregon Health Plan with comprehensive dental coverage.To read The Lund Report’s coverage of this bill, go here.

Senate Bill 420 mandates that the Oregon Health Authority will have jurisdiction of the Oregon State Hospital’s forensic patients, or those who have pled “guilty except for insanity.” The Psychiatric Security Review Board will continue to have jurisdiction of patients while they are in community treatment settings. To read The Lund Report’s coverage of this bill, go here.