Program date: July 19, 2024
Air date: July 22, 2024
From the City Club of Eugene:
“First, do no harm.” This is the Hippocratic Oath physicians take when they get their medical license, and practice for their entire medical career.
As independent physician practices dwindle, corporate ownership of medical practices is at an all-time high. Large hospitals continue to expand their footprint, furthering a decades-long trend of consolidation. More recently, new corporate entities are acquiring physician groups, headlined by private equity companies, retailers such as Walgreens and Amazon, and insurance companies. Today, UnitedHealthcare is the largest employer of physicians in the nation. These trends of corporate consolidation are pervasive here in Oregon, raising urgent questions about the ownership and control over Oregon’s health care delivery system.
First, Do No Harm? The State of Healthcare in Oregon, Part II, will be a discussion about health care corporatization and the legislative efforts to address the issue in Oregon. This includes a focus on strengthening the state’s ban on the corporate practice of medicine (CPOM), as well as legislative efforts to end the harmful impact of corporate decision-making on the local level, here, in Eugene.
Dr. Nicholas Jones moderates our discussion.
Speakers:
Biographies are provided by the panelists and edited for length/proofreading
Ben Bowman is the House Majority Leader and State Representative for House District 25. He works as a public school district administrator in his day job. Before joining the Legislature, Ben was the chair of the Tigard-Tualatin School Board and worked for the Oregon Department of Education. He graduated from the University of Oregon and earned a master’s degree from Stanford University. Rep. Bowman was the chief sponsor of House Bill 4130 in the 2024 legislative session, which would have been model legislation to counter corporations and private equity firms buying up medical practices, cutting staff, and increasing costs for patients and payers.
Nicholas Jones, MD, is a dedicated primary care physician and healthcare reform advocate. He completed medical school in San Antonio, TX, and residency at a rural program in Corpus Christi, TX, gaining comprehensive experience in patient-centered care. After an impactful three-year tenure at Oregon Medical Group/Optum, Dr. Jones founded Clear Health Direct Primary Care to eliminate third parties and work directly for patients. Passionate about reshaping primary care, Dr. Jones champions increased physician ownership and leadership, aiming to reduce the influence of private equity and insurance companies in healthcare. With a commitment to ethical and sustainable medical practices that align financial incentives with the health of patients, he believes the direct care model is an important step toward achieving healthcare for all.
State Rep. Nancy Nathanson represents House District 13 which includes north Eugene’s Cal Young, Goodpasture, Harlow, Northeast Neighbors, River Road, and Santa Clara neighborhoods. She has served in the House of Representatives since 2007, and prior to that the Eugene City Council for 12 years. Rep. Nathanson currently chairs the House Committee on Revenue and as Co-Chair for the Joint Committee on Information Management and Technology. She has 14 years of leadership experience on budget committees including Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means and the Subcommittee on Human Services (and Health Care). She has received awards for legislative service from organizations including Oregon Primary Care Association, Oregon School-Based Health Care Network, AARP, Oregon Partnership to Immunize Children, Community Providers Association of Oregon, and Lane Council of Governments Outstanding Elected Official in 2019. In the recent 2024 legislative session she sponsored and passed bills to license and regulate Pharmacy Benefit Managers and to improve access to same-day health care through funding innovative programs and expediting nurse licensure.
Hayden Rooke-Ley is a lawyer in Eugene, where he grew up, and he is a Senior Fellow at the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly think tank in Washington, DC. Hayden’s academic and policy writing focuses on issues of health care law and policy, including corporate consolidation of medical providers, Medicare and Medicaid financing, and labor organizing in the health care sector. Prior to returning to Oregon, Hayden was a health policy advisor in Congress and received his JD from Stanford Law School.
About the City Club of Eugene:
The mission of the City Club of Eugene is to build community vision through open inquiry. The Club explores a wide range of significant local, state, and national issues and helps to formulate new approaches and solutions to problems. Membership is open to all, and Club members have a direct influence on public policy by discussing issues of concern with elected officials and other policy makers. The City Club’s mailing address is PO Box 12084, Eugene, OR 97440, and its website is cityclubofeugene.org.
Video and Broadcast
This program will be live streamed, and the videotape will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s Facebook page and You Tube Channel, in addition to our website. It will be broadcast on Monday, July 22 at 7:00 p.m., on KLCC 89.7 FM.
Contact: For more information, visit CityClubOfEugene.org.
