Health care and human services

Pharmacy Benefit Managers’ business practices were squeezing pharmacies, paying them less than the cost of the drug for filling a patient’s prescription, and steering patients to more expensive drugs or something other than what their medical professional thinks best. Pharmacies are going out of business and consumer choice is constrained. I passed a bill to rein in unfair business practices and bring transparency to the PBM money stream.

When Eugene lost its only hospital on 90 days’ notice I jumped in to work with stakeholders on a response to reshape the delivery of urgent, same-day care. My bill brings money to Eugene Springfield Fire EMS to handle the additional strain during a transition period, and creates an Innovation Fund for innovative programs to get the right care, compassionately, to people and reduce the strain on ambulances and crowded emergency departments. It also helps nurses get licensed more quickly in Oregon when they have an active license in good standing in another state.

Health insurance companies were sending information to the state to request increases in rates, but it was “behind the scenes.”  I passed a bill to shine a light on these rate requests, requiring that they be posted, immediately, on the web, so consumer watchdogs could go to work reviewing them.

Local lactation consultants met with me to tell me about their predicament, and why some new moms couldn’t get help. I spearheaded the work to help new mothers by improving access for quality lactation services, providing licensing for lactation consultants and a path to billing for insurance reimbursement.

I’ve been a long time advocate for school health clinics. I passed legislation to provide support, oversight, health system collaboration, and increase funding and access. 

I’ve passed legislation to improve access to health care in underserved areas through reforming the funding and criteria for incentives for health care professionals.

I worked with AARP to improve care for people leaving hospital care, passing the Caregiver Advise, Record, and Enable (CARE) program, which ensures that family caregivers are included as part of the care team and receive appropriate training when a person is discharged from the hospital.

Human service providers were struggling to meet needs of people who needed caregivers at home, with weeks-long waits to get a background check approved. I dug in and passed five bills to reform Oregon’s complicated and antiquated system of background checks.

When I saw how many forms someone would need to fill out for assistance, and how many different state agencies repeated the work over and over, I wrote the bill that started the work for a unified application system.

In short, status quo isn’t good enough, and I work to improve it.