Oregon’s first-in-nation hospital price cap hasn’t hurt care, finances so far, study finds

A new analysis of Oregon’s first-in-the-nation hospital payment cap finds that the policy has so far produced little turbulence in hospital finances or the quality of patient care.

The study, published last week in Health Affairs , examined how Oregon’s decision to limit what hospitals can charge state employee health plans affected revenues, staffing and delivery of care.

Researchers from Brown University found no significant financial downturn and, in some cases, modest improvements in patient experience.

In 2017, Oregon became the first state to establish a cap on what the state public employee and educator health plans pay hospitals.

The law, phased in starting in 2019, limits insurers covering public employees from paying more than 200% of Medicare rates for in-network hospita