The Oregon Health Plan — Lessons for the Nation

Abstract

Expansion PlansUnder Oregon's 1989 legislative package, the Medicaid portion of the Oregon Health Plan was only one of its two critical pieces. The other was the requirement that employers provide insurance to employees, with the prioritized list as the minimal benefit package. Small businesses lobbied for the repeal of this part of the legislation, and on January 1, 1996, it died. Gone was the hope of nearly universal health insurance in Oregon, with the prioritized list used for persons with incomes above the federal poverty level as well as Medicaid beneficiaries.With the defeat of the requirement that employers . . .