As health care corporations buy up clinics across Oregon and the country, Sen. Jeff Merkley and several other lawmakers have introduced new legislation to block future bids to corporatize medical care.
In 2020, when Optum Oregon, a branch of United Health Group, purchased Oregon Medical Group, it led to many providers leaving Lane County.
This created a health care desert that kicked thousands of patients out and hiked up costs for others, according to Merkley.
Last year, Optum merged with Corvallis; Merkley says it’s the continued consolidation of medical care that sparked the need for the Patients Over Profits Act.
“We’re just going to ban insurance companies from owning these clinics. And in addition, in a belt and suspenders fashion, we’re going to say that, hey, the Health and Human Services Department cannot contract with an insurance company to deliver, like, for example, Medicaid Advantage, if they own a clinic,” Merkley said. “So, it’s two different ways going about the same outcome to say get out of this business. The insurance company makes money by dumping sick people out of the insurance plan and dumping sick people out of the clinics. And we saw when Optum bought the Oregon Medical Group, they kicked thousands of people out of their list of patients that they serve. And that is all about profit, not about patient care.”
Large scale mergers can present a conflict of interest with companies prioritizing their own providers with patients rather than patient needs, Merkley said.
Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and Oregon representative Val Hoyle are among the lawmakers behind the bill targeting billionaire health care corporations.