Despite a budget crisis, Oregon made significant  strides this year in reforming health care. Legislators passed two major reform bills and renewed funding for Oregon Project Independence, a state-run home-care program.

House Bill 2009 (pdf) will simplify and streamline state health functions and implement reforms to promote electronic health records, create a registry for end-of-life care, establish evidence-based clinical guidelines, and plan for workforce needs by establishing a Health Care Workforce Strategic Fund. The bill states that Oregon’s Health Care Work Force Committee “shall coordinate efforts to recruit and educate health care professionals and retain a quality workforce to meet the demand that will be created by the expansion in health care coverage, system transformations and an increasingly diverse population.”

The bill also creates the Oregon Health Authority, the Oregon Health Authority Fund, and the Oregon Health Policy Board, the latter of which is charged with “ensur[ing] that Oregon’s health care workforce is sufficient in numbers and training to meet the demand that will be created by the expansion in health coverage, health care system transformations, an increasingly diverse population and an aging workforce.”

House Bill 2116 (pdf) funds health care for tens of thousands of children and low-income adults, the former by establishing the Health Care for All Oregon Children program and the latter by channeling funds through the state’s Department of Human Services “to community health centers or safety net clinics to ensure the capacity of each grantee to provide health care services to underserved or vulnerable populations.”

Senate Bill 5529 (pdf) not only renews funding for Oregon Project Independence but increases and protects it. The program provides in-home care services to seniors and people with Alzheimer’s or related diseases who require nursing-home level care but do not qualify for Medicaid.

“The state of Oregon is leading the nation in ensuring a stable health care workforce and addressing the health care needs of vulnerable populations, from children to low-income adults and seniors,” said Carol Regan, director of the PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers Campaign. “Congress should follow by passing legislation this fall that makes health coverage affordable and accessible to all Americans, regardless of income, age, or gender, and also includes new investment in the direct-care workforce.”