Big Wins from the Short 2024 Legislative Session
Oregon’s 2024 Legislative Session came and went in a flash, and we’re thrilled to report we had some big wins for people with disabilities, especially in healthcare! Read on for details about how new laws will impact you.
Healthcare
Quality-Adjusted Life-Years Banned in Oregon!
Our most exciting legislative news in 2024 is the passage of Senate Bill 1508 which bans Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) scores in Oregon, a discriminatory formula used by economists to determine whose medical care is covered by insurance.
“This is a tremendous victory for people w/ #disabilities in Oregon.”
Oregon is the first state in the nation to ban the offensive metric, and our leadership is rightfully being applauded by former U.S. Representative Tony Coelho, one of the original authors of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), who tweeted: “Thank you @DisabilityRtsOR 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!”
All Co-Pays Count!
Another big victory in healthcare policy was passage of House Bill 4113 which forces your health insurance company to count patient assistance programs toward meeting your insurance plan’s prescription co-pay limits. The new law especially benefits people with chronic illnesses or disability who have high prescription drug costs.
Thank You
Three Oregon legislators—alongside hundreds of motivated members of our community who testified, shared petitions, and took quick action—deserve a lot of acknowledgements for getting these important healthcare bills passed. Heartfelt thanks to Senator Gelser Blouin (D-Corvallis), Senator Patterson (D-Salem), and Representative Emerson Levy (D-Bend/Redmond) for their steadfast leadership in shepherding these bills through the legislative process.
Children’s Services & Education
People with disabilities have rights to live in the least restrictive setting possible. We successfully advocated for Senate Bill 1557 this year which requires the Oregon Health Authority to seek federal funding so all youth 21 years old or younger can receive needed hospital or nursing care in the safety of their home or community.
We also lobbied for House Bill 4079, which would have removed the cap that limits how much money the State can send to school districts for educating K-12 students with disabilities. We were extremely disappointed to see this bill not pass out of the House Committee on Revenue, and we’re already preparing to continue efforts next year.
Housing
To create more accessible and sorely needed housing for people with disabilities, we submitted testimony in support of Governor Kotek’s $376 million dollar investment package—Senate Bill 1530—that funds homebuilding, homeless shelters, rent assistance, and eviction protection.
We also worked to add language to the bill upholding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s recommended level of ADA accessible units when new housing is being constructed. The short session ran out before that language could be added, but we are not giving up.
Right to Repair
Power wheelchairs, mobility aids, and other devices our community relies on to live as independently as possible can be expensive—especially when they need to be fixed and only authorized shops are allowed to work on them. Senate Bill 1596 changes the situation by requiring manufacturers to share any documentation, tool, part, or other device you need to diagnose, maintain, and repair your electronic equipment.
Criminalizing Disability
Yet again, success in this area can be measured by bills we helped stop from becoming laws, instead of by policies we helped pass.
House Bill 4088, for example, would have made all assaults on hospital workers a Class C felony regardless of whether the person being charged has a disability or chronic illness that significantly impairs their judgment or behavior. The bill had good intentions—of course hospital staff deserve safe workplace, we all do—but it was incredibly dangerous and scary for many members of our community.
We worked for months with legislators to include language that protects people with an intellectual or developmental disability, dementia, traumatic brain injury, mental illness, or other conditions. But a surprise amendment introduced by Representative Travis Nelson (D-Portland) removed the agreed upon language. As a result, we lobbied hard against the bill and are relieved it did not pass.
We also fought House Bill 4074, an effort to change how the State defines “dangerous to self or others” when attempting to civilly commit a person with mental illness to a psychiatric hospital against their will. Instead of considering a person’s current mental health status, some legislators want to consider how someone might behave at some unknown, later time—including years or even decades from now.
Changing civil commitment laws to make it easier to lock someone away is not the solution to Oregon’s mental crisis and, while we were successful in stopping this year’s bill, we were outraged when no one who has been civilly committed or Disability Rights Oregon was allowed to testify at the informational hearing. We know the issue will return—and so will the fear mongering, so stay tuned for ways you can help. Our community’s lives may depend on it!
