Across the nation, hospital mergers that restrict access to healthcare options pose a threat to patient choice. These mergers can be detrimental to individuals and families seeking end-of-life options. They can limit the ability to access medical aid in dying, turn off a pacemaker or defibrillator, and remove life-sustaining treatments to allow a natural death. That’s why in Oregon, Compassion & Choices and partner organizations are fighting back—to keep control in your hands, not those of for-profit corporations and zealous religious institutions. Taking away legal end of life options like medical aid in dying, can result in poorer outcomes for individuals seeking all forms of care, including quality palliative and hospice care.
One safeguard to help stop this consolidation of restricted healthcare is Oregon’s Health Care Market Oversight (HCMO) program, which is currently under legal attack. Compassion & Choices led a coalition in filing an amicus brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the U.S. District Court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the HCMO program. Established in 2021, Oregon’s HCMO was designed to evaluate proposed health care business deals—such as mergers, acquisitions, and affiliations—to make sure they support Oregon’s goals of health equity, lower costs, increased access, and better care. The lawsuit, originally brought in 2022 by the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (OAHHS), was dismissed, but is now under appeal.
Amitai Heller, counsel for amici and senior staff attorney for Compassion & Choices, highlighted the program’s role in preventing harmful healthcare consolidation. As he noted, “The HCMO program is essential in preserving and promoting accessible, high-quality, affordable, and equitable healthcare in Oregon.”
The coalition also included Basic Rights Oregon, Community Catalyst, End of Life Washington (EOLWA), the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), and SEIU Local 49. These organizations emphasized that the HCMO program plays a critical role in protecting Oregonians’ access to healthcare, especially for rural, end-of-life, gender-affirming, and reproductive care. They also stressed the program’s importance in maintaining high-quality and affordable healthcare while advancing health equity.
Laura Johnson of SEIU Local 49 reinforced the importance of regulatory oversight, saying, “We firmly believe in the importance of a thorough process that ensures healthcare deals is are examined using a rubric that centers patients’ access to quality care.”
Mona Shah of Community Catalyst pointed out the risks of unchecked consolidation, explaining that it often leads to higher costs and reduced access, disproportionately affecting Black, Latino, and low-income communities.
End of Life Washington’s Co-Executive Director, Cassandra Sutherland, drew parallels between Oregon’s and Washington’s struggles with restrictive hospital mergers. “State monitoring of healthcare mergers is essential to protecting the freedom to choose when and how we die,” she said.
As the case moves forward, Compassion & Choices continues to stand behind HCMO, advocating for its role in ensuring equitable and accessible end-of-life healthcare for all Oregonians and advocating that it be even more assertive in using its authority to ensure the availability of end of life options for all Oregonians.
Compassion & Choices
Media Contacts
Michael Cavaiola
National Director of Marketing & Communications
[email protected]
Phone: (480) 622 4427
Patricia A. González-Portillo
Senior National Latino Media Director
[email protected]
(323) 819 0310
Mail contributions directly to:
Compassion & Choices Gift Processing Center
PO Box 485
Etna, NH 03750
