The Oregon Legislature has passed Bill 5024 which contains the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) budget on Saturday as the legislative session drew to a close. No program cuts have been made in this budget which goes against Governor Brown’s proposal recommended budget in December, when revenue forecasts were weak. Key investments include health equity, behavioral health, and case growth.
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The bill adopted without change with total funds of $ 29.8 billion. In the bill, $ 3.6 billion comes from the general fund, $ 16.9 billion comes from federal funds and $ 9 billion comes from other funds. Other funds include money from growing income sources like voting measure 108, which raised taxes on cigarettes, vaping and tobacco products and brought in an additional $ 414.0 million for Medicaid.
In the budget recommended by the governor in December, the OHA’s total fund projections of $ 27.2 billion were lower than the budget approved by law. The main driver of the increase, according to Tom MacDonald, senior legislative analyst at the Oregon Legislative Finance Office, is the growth in the number of cases.
The increase between the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) case count forecast for fall 2020 and spring 2021 was 133,000 average monthly members for 2021-2023. MacDonald says allocating funds to growing number of cases is difficult due to OHP pandemic policy changes in which OHP cannot unsubscribe members during the state of emergency.
“Forecasting the number of cases is more risky than in a normal biennium. This one is riskier because of the federal provisions surrounding the pandemic. It is not entirely clear when the federal public health emergency will end and when that will affect the forecasting and funding of the number of cases. “
MacDonald emphasized the importance of behavioral health investments in the budget. The bill allocates $ 130 million for regional development and innovation. These funds invest in increasing the capacity of residential psychiatric beds statewide to meet behavioral and mental health needs.
Oregon State Hospital will receive $ 725.6 million to create two new units to address capacity shortages, and community mental health centers will receive funding for more staff and equipment to bring more patients to the facilities. Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC). CCBHC will receive $ 121 million to expand existing clinics and create new clinics statewide.
“[Behavioral health] is a very important investment. It is important not only the size of the money, but the approach that is taken. I haven’t seen an investment of this nature in behavioral health, given the parameters that are in place.
MacDonald also pointed to the pressure from the legislature for health equity in the budget. Health Equity Implementation secures $ 6.8 million as well as 17 new positions for the OHA Equity and Inclusion Office to support OHA’s goal of eliminate health inequalities in 10 years. Other health equity bills like Cover All People, HB 3352, and the draft law on data collection, HB 3159, were also invested by the legislator.
