ORS Chapter 414 — Medical Assistance

ORS 414.018. Legislative intent; findings. (1) It is the intention of the Legislative Assembly to achieve the goals of universal access to an adequate level of high quality health care at an affordable cost. (2) The Legislative Assembly finds: (a) A significant level of public and private funds is expended each year for the provision of health care to Oregonians; (b) The state has a strong interest in assisting Oregon businesses and individuals to obtain reasonably available insurance or other coverage of the costs of necessary basic health care services; (c) The lack of basic health care coverage is detrimental not only to the health of individuals lacking coverage, but also to the public welfare and the states need to encourage employment growth and economic development, and the lack results in substantial expenditures for emergency and remedial health care for all purchasers of health care including the state; and (d) The use of integrated and coordinated health care systems has significant potential to reduce the growth of health care costs incurred by the people of this state. (3) The Legislative Assembly finds that achieving its goals of improving health, increasing the quality, reliability, availability and continuity of care and reducing the cost of care requires an integrated and coordinated health care system in which: (a) Medical assistance recipients and individuals who are dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid participate. (b) Health care services, other than Medicaid-funded long term care services, are delivered through coordinated care contracts that use alternative payment methodologies to focus on prevention, improving health equity and reducing health disparities, utilizing patient centered primary care homes, behavioral health homes, evidence-based practices and health information technology to improve health and health care. (c) High quality information is collected and used to measure health outcomes, health care quality and costs and clinical health information. (d) Communities and regions are accountable for improving the health of their communities and regions, reducing avoidable health gaps among different cultural groups and managing health care resources. (e) Care and services emphasize preventive services and services supporting individuals to live independently at home or in their community. (f) Services are person centered, and provide choice, independence and dignity reflected in individual plans and provide assistance in accessing care and services. (g) Interactions between the Oregon Health Authority and coordinated care organizations are done in a transparent and public manner. (h) Moneys provided by the federal government for medical education are allocated to the institutions that provide the education. (4) The Legislative Assembly further finds that there is an extreme need for a skilled, diverse workforce to meet the rapidly growing demand for community-based health care. To meet that need, this state must: (a) Build on existing training programs; and (b) Provide an opportunity for frontline care providers to have a voice in their workplace in order to effectively advocate for quality care. (5) As used in subsection (3) of this section: (a) Community means the groups within the geographic area served by a coordinated care organization and includes groups that identify themselves by age, ethnicity, race, economic status, or other defining characteristic that may impact delivery of health care services to the group, as well as the governing body of each county located wholly or partially within the coordinated care organizations service area. (b) Region means the geographical boundaries of the area served by a coordinated care organization as well as the governing body of each county that has jurisdiction over all or part of the coordinated care organizations service area. [1993 c.815 1; 2011 c.602 1; 2015 c.798 9] Note: