From the Portland Oregonian:
House Republicans block Oregon’s health insurance exchange in surprise vote
Updated: Monday, February 13, 2012, 1:08 PM
A coalition of 30 Republicans and 1 Democrat in the state House of Representatives blocked approval of Oregon’s health insurance exchange this morning…
Last year, a bill to set up the exchange passed both houses of the Legislature with broad bipartisan approval.
House Bill 4164, which would give final approval to the exchange, cruised through its committee hearings without incident. But then, as the House met Monday morning to forward the bill to the Senate, Rep. Tim Freeman, R‑Roseburg, made a motion to instead refer the bill to the Joint Ways and Means Committee, where he co-chairs a subcommittee on human services.
Freeman said questions had arisen in a recent caucus meeting of House Republicans over what commitments existed over federal funding of the program, as well as the potential for a change to the legal status of federal health care reforms, currently under consideration by the U.S Supreme Court…
The move led by House Republicans comes as Republicans in the Senate have vowed to block a companion bill on health care reform unless it is modified to include limits on lawsuit awards against health providers.
(HT: Eric Fruits.)
