Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner Urges Congress to Reject Health Care Budget Cuts that will Push More Oregonians into Financial Distress

Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, MD, spoke out against Congressional budget proposals that could deny health coverage and health care to approximately 200,000 Oregonians, increase financial distress for individuals and families across the state, and tip hospitals into bankruptcy, especially in rural communities.

In an effort to cut more than $700 billion from health care, Congress would impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries, require eligibility determinations every 6 months, and put limits and restrictions on a range of federal matching funds states currently receive, including federal matching dollars for financing mechanisms Oregon and other states rely on to ensure the financial stability of hospitals and health systems.

Treasurer Steiner said:

"As a physician and as Oregon’s Treasurer, I am concerned that Congressional leaders are pursuing budget cuts and new red tape requirements that would deny more Oregonians medical and mental health care, shutter hospitals and health clinics, or force providers to raise rates for people with commercial insurance to survive. As result, these cuts would make health care less affordable for everyone and push more households into debt and bankruptcy.

Oregon’s economic stability is also at risk. Health care provides the physical and mental wellbeing that keeps people productive and independent. Medicaid budget cuts and cost shifts to states would eliminate jobs, hamstring our economy and destabilize the health care system, especially in rural communities, such as in Eastern Oregon where more than 1 in 2 residents in some counties are on the Oregon Health Plan.

Oregon cannot afford these reckless cuts that would sacrifice the health and well-being of Oregon families to extend tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations. I urge Congress to reject proposals that gut the Medicaid budget and threaten to eliminate health coverage for millions of Americans."

Facts about Oregon’s Medicaid program and the potential economic impact of health care budget cuts proposed by Congress: Research shows that physicians in Oregon create more than 133,500 additional jobs in the state economy and each doctor generates $2.1 million in economic activity per year.

Medicaid expansion in Oregon created 23,000 jobs in communities across the state, according to state economic analysts, and generates more than $1.5 billion in associated economic activity (beyond direct health care expenditures) for the state’s economy.

In Oregon, Medicaid (the Oregon Health Plan) covers 1 in 3 people state residents (1.4 million people). Today 97% of Oregonians have health coverage. Most adults on the Oregon Health plan are employed.

Currently, 57% of Oregon children – and 45% of all births – are covered by Medicaid. Approximately two-thirds of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid.

Counties in rural areas typically have Oregon’s highest Medicaid enrollment rates. In Oregon Congressional District 2, which spans most of Oregon east of the Cascades: