House Republicans toughen Cover Oregon reforms

Oregon House Republican Office

Salem, OR – Amendments from House Republicans to strengthen reform and oversight of Cover Oregon were made a part of SB 1562-B. Specifically, the amendments will require the public release of all independent investigations as well as require the Cover Oregon executive director to come before the legislature and address existing fiscal issues, budgetary obligations and enrollment data which threaten the long-term viability of the system.

“One of our top priorities this session was to pass additional accountability measures which will shed light on the Cover Oregon failures,” said Rep. Mike McLane (R – Powell Butte), the House Republican Leader. “We are pleased to get these reforms through, although there were more reforms we tried to pass but they were blocked by House Democrats.”

House Republicans introduced other measures or amendments this session which would have expedited an audit of Cover Oregon by Secretary of State Brown, required legislators to utilize Cover Oregon for healthcare coverage, and allowed Oregonians to receive federal subsidies when purchasing insurance outside the exchange and directly from insurance providers.

“By demanding that the Cover Oregon executive director provide us with these answers and by requiring the public release of all independent investigations, we’re closer to understanding the full nature of the problem,” said Rep. Jason Conger (R – Bend), a member of the House Committee on Health Care and the sponsor of the amendments. “Today we made a good step in restoring the broken trust with Oregon voters.”