Oregon law increases hospital financial aid to patients
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In 2024, Oregon began requiring hospitals to automatically screen patients for financial assistance, skipping applications for most.
Oregon state Senator Lisa Reynolds introduced the legislation to ensure hospitals fulfill their commitment to provide community benefits in exchange for tax breaks. Oregon Health & Science University hospital saw the number of patients automatically qualifying for aid jump from 12% to 64% in the early months of the law.
Spending on financial assistance by Oregon hospitals more than doubled in the first full year under the new rules, according to federal reports. Advocates say this relieved financial stress for patients who feared being unable to afford medical bills and other necessities. While hospitals initially supported the law, they have since requested better screening tools and expressed concern about rising costs, particularly with potential cuts to Medicaid and increases in the uninsured rate.
North Carolina and other states are also adopting similar “presumptive eligibility” policies. California and Delaware will require automatic financial aid grants by July 2027. As many as 100 million adults in the U.S. currently have healthcare debt, and policymakers are increasingly focused on ensuring nonprofit hospitals provide the financial assistance they are expected to.
