Sen. Bonham: Why no business is safe in Oregon

No business is safe in Oregon – the path to a single-payer healthcare monopoly
By Oregon State Senator Daniel Bonham,

This week, the House passed HB 4130, a bill the majority party wants you to think will simply “remove corporations out of the healthcare system.” What they won’t tell you is the bill will ultimately limit access to healthcare by decreasing the amount of healthcare options in the state.

Specifically, HB 4130 requires all officers of a professional corporation, except the secretary and treasurer, to be licensees of the Oregon Medical Board or Oregon State Board of Nursing. In theory this doesn’t sound that bad. In practice this has severe unintended consequences as Oregon’s business climate has gradually made it harder for doctors to run their own practices.

 

Please do not get me wrong, we unequivocally need a model that supports health over profits. We don’t need Black Rock deciding whether you get a hip or heart transplant. But this bill is not that. The singularly it creates will remove small physicians’ options to stay in business, wiping out patient choice and paving the way for big business.

 

Ironic, right? This is pacman politics, similar to other sectors. Where the big medical corporations gobble up smaller businesses and pave the way for a single-payer healthcare monopoly.

 

Simply put, I am not willing to gamble on the government being in charge of mine or my residents’ healthcare options.

Independent healthcare providers are often in need of private investment or a model that utilizes a Management Service Organization (MSO). MSO’s allow doctors to do what they do best, provide health services to their patients, while taking care of administrative tasks, infrastructure investments and financial risks. These MSOs can be a life saver for some smaller practices. This bill is seeking to end the MSO option, which will be the end of many local community healthcare options.

 

According to experts, Oregon ranks 34 out of 50 among U.S. states for access to primary care. Our rural communities are in dire need of innovative and accessible healthcare options such as independent healthcare providers and telehealth.

 

Oregon’s obsession with intervening in our healthcare system and reducing healthcare options for residents is not making our lives better. Ask yourself, would you rather go to a DMV or an Apple store? Would you rather take an Uber or a taxi? Government forced monopolies or overregulated programs do not help improve customer service. Ever. To learn more about this problem, Best Med wrote a very informative opposition letter here.