Oregon requires comparable access to mental health and medical care

The Oregon Health Authority and coordinated care organizations must ensure comparable access to mental health, substance use, and medical care. These requirements cover Oregon’s medical assistance program, including people enrolled in coordinated care organizations, which manage their health coverage. Limits on mental health and substance use care must be no stricter than limits on medical and surgical care. The law took effect June 5, 2026; these requirements are outside the sections delayed until January 1, 2027.

The Oregon Health Authority must help a tribe establish and finance a community mental health program if the tribe chooses to operate one. The assistance applies to the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon. The tribe must decide to establish and operate the program. State assistance depends on available funds and must follow the same approach used for other community mental health programs. The law took effect June 5, 2026; this assistance provision is outside the sections delayed until January 1, 2027.

The Oregon Health Authority must pay for covered health services delivered by phone, video, or other allowed remote methods through the listed providers. Listed providers include people licensed or certified in Oregon, certain unlicensed workers, community mental health programs, hospitals, and federally qualified health centers. An unlicensed provider must practice in Oregon and work for an organization approved by the Oregon Health Authority. The payment requirement does not cover services missing from the listed standard medical billing codes. Payment generally matches in-person care, but bundled payments and other payments based on care outcomes need not match a separate fee for each service. The amendments governing these remote-care payments become operative on January 1, 2027.