Last year, Oregon leaders passed a law to automatically register eligible Medicaid enrollees to vote.
As a physician, I support this sensible measure to help close the voter registration gap for Medicaid enrollees, many of whom have been left out of having a say in the government that implements health care programs like Medicaid.
Unfortunately, this new law is on hold until the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) act, which I’m urging them to do as soon as possible.
House Bill 2107, passed in July 2023, would automatically register eligible Oregonians who enroll in Medicaid to vote. These residents would be registered as “nonaffiliated,” and they would also receive mail allowing them to then choose a political party or decline to register to vote.
This process is virtually identical to the one Oregon already uses to register eligible voters when they obtain or renew their driver’s license or personal identification cards from the Oregon Department of Transportation.