Disability Rights Oregon applauds lawmakers’ passage of two ‘long overdue fixes’ to problems

PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Two new state laws will increase affordable access to lifesaving treatments and medications while decreasing harmful discrimination against people with disabilities, the group Disability Rights Oregon said after last week's adjournment of the 2024 short session of the Oregon Legislature.

Here's their news release:

Portland, Oregon—This week, Oregon’s leading statewide disability rights organization praised the Legislature’s passage of two bills that stop a decades-long discriminatory practice while significantly improving health care access and affordability for people with disabilities.

Disability Rights Oregon applauded the passages of Senate Bill 1508 and House Bill 4113, saying they are both long overdue fixes to problems that have been hurting people with disabilities and other patients for years. Both bills have been sent to the Governor's desk for her signature.

“People with disabilities in Oregon have been wrongly discriminated against by insurance companies and the healthcare industry for decades, and our community has paid the price with our lives and our livelihoods,” says Jake Cornett, Executive Director and CEO of Disability Rights Oregon. “Everyone deserves access to the health care they need to thrive, and we should all receive affordable, lifesaving medications. We are thrilled to see Oregon’s elected leaders leading the nation by passing these two bills into law.”

“Thank you to Senator Gelser Blouin, Senator Patterson, and Representative Emerson Levy for their steadfast leadership in shepherding these bills through the legislative process,” said Meghan Moyer, Policy Director of Disability Rights Oregon.

"This is a tremendous victory for people with disabilities in Oregon,” wrote Congressman Tony Coelho, author of the Americans with Disabilities Act. “Thank you Disability Rights Oregon for your persistence to ban generalized quality of life measures like QALYs to restrict access to care, demonstrating to other states and the nation it can be done!”

Background

Disability Rights Oregon advocated in 2023 and 2024 on these issues.

• Summary of Senate Bill 1508 to ban Quality-Adjusted Life-Years
• Summary of House Bill 4113 to ensure health insurance plans continue to count patient assistance programs in co-pays

SENATE BILL 1508

Disability Rights Oregon has been working to get the State to stop using illegal and offensive Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) scores for the last few years, only to see important legislation be shot down. We were determined to continue the fight after seeing SB 492 fail due to objections from the Oregon Health Authority.

• Testimony by Meghan Moyer, Public Policy Director, Disability Rights Oregon (House Healthcare Committee, February 21, 2024)
• Quality-Adjusted Life Years and the Devaluation of Life with Disability (National Council on Disability, 2019)

HOUSE BILL 4113

Disability Rights Oregon made this one of our top priorities during the 2024 session because three years ago, we saw powerful insurance companies kill SB 844. The same thing happened last year, when SB 565 didn’t pass while patients continued to pay more for needed treatments.

Our health care system has many flaws that need to be fixed, but the reality is insurance companies have been taking away a cost-sharing tool we've come to rely on—and people with disabilities have been getting hurt in the process.

• Testimony by Meghan Moyer, Public Policy Director, Disability Rights Oregon (House Healthcare Committee, February 2, 2024)

Disability Rights Oregon upholds the civil rights of people with disabilities to live, work and engage in the community. Serving as Oregon’s federally mandated Protection & Advocacy system since 1977, the nonprofit works to transform systems, policies, and practices to give more people the opportunity to reach their full potential.