Governor Kotek Issues Executive Order to Protect Healthcare Access

Salem, OR - Today, Governor Tina Kotek released Executive Order (EO) 26-27, directing state agencies to take immediate action to protect access to affordable, high-quality healthcare in Oregon. Thanks to years of state-driven efforts to expand and maintain access to care, approximately 97% of Oregonians currently have health insurance, and today's executive order looks to protect this amid significant federal changes.

The federal government is forcing substantial changes to the U.S. healthcare system through President Trump's House Resolution 1, including significant cuts to Medicaid and the failure to extend enhanced federal healthcare subsidies. These actions will make it harder for eligible Oregonians to obtain and afford coverage, while placing additional financial and administrative pressure on states, providers, and families beginning January 1, 2027.

"Cruel, out-of-touch decisions by President Trump and Congressional Republicans are impacting Oregon's ability to make sure people get the healthcare they need," Governor Kotek said. "That's why my executive order today focuses on the strategies we as a state can act on right now to reduce healthcare costs, keep Oregonians insured, and create more certainty and stability for healthcare providers in every corner of the state."

Governor Kotek has already taken action to reduce insurer rate increases and preserve consumer choice through the Oregon Reinsurance Program and other regulatory actions, which have lowered rates in the individual market by 6% to 8% annually. Additional intervention from the Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) reduced average rate increases by 10.7% for the 2027 plan year.

Executive Order 26-27 directs the following actions:

• Identifying options to further lower costs and stabilize the individual and small group insurance markets.
• Ensuring primary care and prevention are an actualized strategy to improve health and reduce avoidable costs.
• Enforcing timely pay provisions so providers can get paid, maintain predictability, and continue offering services.
• Maximizing patient-provider time and reducing administrative burden for primary care clinics.
• Optimizing state-purchasing of high-cost prescription drugs to lower healthcare costs for all Oregonians.
• Simplifying the Medicaid pharmacy benefit to reduce costs and administrative complexity.
• Tracking coverage losses among Oregonians eligible for healthcare but impacted by federal policies.

"Primary care clinicians are the backbone of our health care system," said Dr. Eric Wiser, President of Oregon Academy for Family Physicians (OAFP). "Engaging with primary care early and often can improve health, manage chronic disease, and reduce overall system costs by avoiding unnecessary emergency department visits and hospitalizations. The value of team-based care delivered through the Patient Centered Primary Care Health model is grounded in evidence, and Oregon is lucky that we already have this foundation. Today's EO will protect primary care access and sustainability, which will be a critical strategy to mitigate harmful HR 1 cuts."

"Today's EO is great news," said Oregon Medical Association President, Reva Ricketts-Loriaux, DO. "Chasing payments and competing program requirements add administrative burden that burns clinic resources and minimizes time spent between clinicians and patients. This EO takes important steps to reduce the administrative burden that drives patients away from care and clinicians out of practice."

The full text of the EO can be found here.