VICTORY!! SEIU 49 Wins Big for Patients Eligible for Financial Assistance
Oregon now has one of the strongest laws in the country to make sure eligible patients have their bills from nonprofit hospitals and clinics forgiven or reduced.
On July 19, Governor Kotek signed HB3320 into law. For too long, nonprofit hospitals and clinics have put the burden onto patients to learn about and apply for financial assistance they are legally entitled to.
But HB3320 flips the script. Instead of patients having to know their rights and go through a long and complicated application process, nonprofit hospitals and clinics will have to apply discounts before they send a bill.
Starting in July 2024, Oregon’s nonprofit hospitals and clinics will be required to:
Screen for Eligibility Upfront: Nonprofit hospitals and clinics will be required to automatically screen patients who have bills of $500 or more to see if they are eligible for financial assistance.
Apply Discounts Before Billing: For eligible patients, financial assistance will be applied before patients ever receive a bill.
Offer Full Refunds for Eligible Patients Who Already Paid: Patients found eligible who have already paid will receive a full refund.
These, and other big changes to the law included in HB3320, have the potential to help thousands of patients who struggle to pay their medical bills every year.
Representative Lisa Reynolds, the chief sponsor said, “In medicine, we all live by the code, “first do no harm,” which includes how we treat the patients that receive bills for our services. In many cases, what Oregonians have experienced was the exact opposite.”
Your stories about struggling to access assistance were key to passing this bill with bi-partisan support, and your COPE dollars help to build the political strength to get this groundbreaking legislation to the governor’s desk.
Let's keep our labor victories going! Contribute to COPE.
SEIU 49 members are committed to social and economic justice. We work hard to campaign for candidates and pass laws that improve the lives of working families in our region and around the country.
Through small, voluntary contributions to Committee On Political Education (COPE), SEIU members have created a strong voice for working people in our State Capitols. COPE allows us to have a direct impact on key issues in our communities such as good jobs, affordable housing and paid family leave.
