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What should your health plan cover?—Oregon wants to hear from YOU!
We all expect our health insurance to cover our basic health needs, but the significant differences in coverage between plans can be confusing and disempowering for consumers. What services should all health insurance in Oregon cover?
Governor Kitzhaber recently convened a panel to answer just this question. New federal regulations require Oregon to determine a baseline level of coverage that all health insurance must provide—a level known as the “Essential Health Benefit”. The panel’s recommendations are now public, and they want to hear from you.
We would love to have the highest possible baseline standards, of course, but Oregon is required by federal law to base the Essential Health Benefit on current insurance industry practices, which are often less than ideal.
The panel was empowered to choose between 10 currently-existing plans to find the plan that would be used as a benchmark. (Look here for a comparison of all 10 plans—if you are willing to risk having your eyes glaze over.) The chosen plan will serve as a baseline, and many plans will have much better coverage no matter how the Essential Health Benefit is designed.
Bring your voice to this discussion! Let the Governor and state policymakers know your thoughts about health insurance coverage.
Public comments will be accepted through June 15 and should be sent to EHB@state.or.us.
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