John Kitzhaber is going to Salem. “I’m on my way down to rain on the OHA bill,” he says from his car, driving from Portland and talking to WW via Bluetooth.
The legislation in question, House Bill 4003, is wonky—frankly, it’s a bit tough to even describe—but it’s no mystery why it has special significance to Oregon’s former three-term governor.
The bill is about how the Oregon Health Authority decides what services the Oregon Health Plan will pay for. If enacted, it would scrap references in state law to a feature that has set Oregon’s Medicaid system apart since Kitzhaber led its creation decades ago: the prioritized list…