Week Five Takeaways

Date: November 12, 2024

Now that we have election results, we know who our representatives are (or will be) and it's time to engage them.

Last week, the Oregon Health Authority announced that the proposed transaction between OHSU and Legacy will begin the comprehensive review period. You can read a summary of OHSU’s transaction filing for regulatory review in OHA’s preliminary review report.

In even bigger news last week, former Governor of Oregon John Kitzhaber outlined his concerns in a recent blog post: Is the proposed acquisition of Legacy Health by OHSU in the best interest of Oregonians? 

Dr. Kitzhaber raised many of the same questions about the value of the transaction that we have been hearing from you. Questioning OHSU’s rationale and commitments, he shares, “... ‘saving’ Legacy Health from a megacorporation is not, in itself, a justification for the acquisition. The issue is in the nature of the transaction itself – whether it will improve the health care ecosystem in the Portland metropolitan area, whether it will lower overall cost and expand access. Creating a near-monopoly in Portland is not the only solution here—and it may not be the best.” 

Raising these concerns is understandable, when in the HCMO filing, OHSU writes about entitlement to certain antitrust exemptions because they are a “governmental entity performing governmental functions and exercising governmental powers.” (11-12, 20-22, 55-57) OHSU essentially believes they are exempt from oversight of the Federal Trade Commission, an agency that is charged with promoting fair competition and avoiding harm. 

The communities we serve deserve more reassurance about the value of this transaction than recitations of state law. People deserve rigorous demonstration that the benefits of the transaction outweigh “any theoretical loss of competition” as OHSU states (55-58). 

As an employee, a community member, and/or a patient, what do you hope to see in this combination, and what are you worried about? What is important to you?

Over the past couple weeks we have encouraged people to provide input to OHA through the public comment. Former Governor Kitzhaber’s blog post ends with highlighting the role that local leaders play in reviewing this transaction and finding a good resolution.

Given that, we urge you to reach out to your state representative and state senator to share your thoughts on this transaction. To assist, we are providing a script to use when calling their office or a message template to email or submit through their contact forms. Information about your elected officials and scripts are located on our Get Involved page.

Thank you for your support of this community!

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