Story Highlights
- A new bill (SB 526) has been introduced in the Oregon legislature directing the Oregon Health Authority to study and recommend legislation for a nurse home visiting program that offers up to three home visits by a licensed health care provider for parents and families with newborns.
- The Governor of Oregon plans to develop a “universal in-home program” that provides in-home nurse visits for all new parents regardless of insurance status and requires insurance companies to reimburse the costs.
- There are many unanswered questions whether this policy will be mandatory for all families with newborns.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown recently submitted a bipartisan budget proposal for the years 2019-2021 that includes a focus on behavioral health (addictions and mental health). A focus of the budget is investment in child health and Oregon’s Coordinated Care Organizations, which is the state’s approach to blending a wide range of health services under one program.1
The bill directs the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to study and recommend a program that offers up to three post-birth home nurse visits by a licensed health care provider for families with newborns beginning when the babies are three weeks old.2
There are many unanswered questions about the proposed home nurse visit program, including whether it will be an “opt-in” program or become mandatory for all parents of newborns in the state.
On March 18, 2019, the Oregon Senate Committee on Health Care discussed the key elements of the OHA’s role in this study, which is “to design, implement and maintain a voluntary statewide program to provide universal newborn nurse home visiting services to all families with newborns residing in this state. Requires OHA to consult, coordinate and collaborate with health benefit plan insurers, hospitals, local public health authorities, the Early Learning Division, existing early childhood home visiting programs, community-based organizations, and social service providers in designing program. Establishes standards for nurse home visiting services. Requires OHA to collect and analyze data to assess the effectiveness of the program. Requires health benefit plans to reimburse for the cost of universal newborn home visiting services.”3
Similar In-Home Newborn Visit Programs Include Providing Vaccines
Other similar in-home newborn education and medical care programs operated by Duke University and Lincoln County Public Health “Babies First” programs are cited as examples. Those programs include:
- Home visits to new families and children with special needs;
- Intensive home visits with assessments of learning opportunities and safety in the home;
- Education and information on child development, including monitoring and child growth;
- Developmental testing; hearing, vision and dental screenings;
- Support to families and education on health topics;
- Provides immunizations;
- Assistance with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WC);
- Referrals for medical care and social services as needed;
- Case management
An “Emergency” Measure To Protect “Public Peace, Health and Safety”
Currently, the bill has 18 sponsors and has language in it declaring SB 526 as an emergency measure needing resolution by the end of the year.4 According to the bill, what this means is that the sponsors of the bill claim that, “This 2019 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2019 Act takes effect on its passage.”4
Oregon is not the only state to push for in-home visits for families with newborn children. Governor Jay Inslee of Washington tweeted, “My budget would also offer universal home visits. This gives every new parent the opportunity to get a visit from a nurse during the first few weeks back home with their newborn to share important information and build confidence.”5
“This Is Stuff All Kids Need”
According to Patrick Allen, the Director of Oregon Health Authority, the governor’s plan involves a six year program to develop a universal nurse home visit program for parents with newborn babies regardless of insurance status.1 6 The program would also include parents who adopt newborns. The family would receive two or three home visits that would provide basic health screenings for babies, connecting parents with primary care physicians and other services, and coordinating the scheduling of the many government recommended childhood vaccines for babies.1
Currently, the state offers in-home visits to some families through programs that have eligibility requirements, but they are limited to families that qualify for Medicaid or those who are considered “at-risk”.6 Allen stated in reference to the new proposed program, “This isn’t something for people in trouble. This is stuff all kids need. Stuff my kids needed.”1
Allen also pointed out that the program has been piloted in Lincoln County, Oregon. He added that no other state offers universal in-home visits for new parents, although North Carolina is focusing efforts on moving toward such a program as well.1
State Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D-Beaverton), one of the bill’s co-sponsors told Oregon Public Broadcasting, “We’re still working out the details of how it’s going to happen and how it’s going to get paid for, but many of them are recognizing that the value in reducing emergency department visits, in identifying postpartum depression and anxiety very early and intervening, in connecting moms with services to help them bond successfully and get their baby in for the right visits.”6
Cate Wilcox, the manager of the Maternal and Child Health Section at the Public Health Division of the Oregon Health Authority provided some examples of issues that a nurse could address during a in- home visit:
Is the baby gaining weight? How is breastfeeding going? How are you feeling? Those are some of the health aspects. Then there would be some social aspects: Do you have childcare? Are you attaching well? How has your child played? Is the home safe?6
Will It Be Mandatory?
Although Senator Steiner Hayward told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the in-home nurse visit program would be optional for those families who want it,6 the bill does not make crystal clear whether the program would remain “opt-in” or become mandatory for all families with newborn babies. The term “universal in-home visits” is vague and does not provide any clarification to determine whether in-home visits would be optional.
The strong language regarding the declaration of emergency in the bill also suggests that this may indeed be a mandatory program for all parents with newborns:
This 2019 Act being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this 2019 Act takes effect on its passage.4
The assumption behind these kinds of state-operated health surveillance programs is that parents cannot be trusted to properly care for their own infants and children and that state employees are the only qualified agents to ensure that children are cared for in the way the state deems appropriate. If this becomes a mandatory program, the Parental Rights Foundation has made it clear that “home visits, even by licensed medical personnel, would constitute a violation of family privacy if the visit is unwanted. Licensed medical practitioners are by law mandatory reporters; once they are inside your home they are a de facto investigative agent of the State.”7
The proposed newborn in-home nursing visit program hinges on the definition of the term “universal” which has yet to be made clear to the public.
References:
1 Haynes D. Sherwood Resident at the Center of Health Care Battles. Beaverton Valley Times Jan. 3, 2019.
2 SB 526. Oregon State Legislature 2019.
3 SB 526 Staff Measure Summary. Oregon State Legislature 2019.
4 Senate Bill 526. Oregon State Legislature 2019.
5 Governor Jay Inslee. Tweet. Twitter Jan. 15, 2019.
6 Sabatier J. Oregon Lawmakers Want To Offer Home Visits To All New Parents. OPB Feb. 7, 2019.
7 Mandatory Home Visits Coming to Oregon? Parental Rights Foundation Jan. 23, 2019.
17 Responses
Somebody check the drinking water in Salem! The OHA isn’t an institution that oozes credibility. They’ve had scandals and resignations, not to mention the role out and failure of Cover Oregon. This is a rat hole that does not need more authority!
Oregon’s HB 3063 was also proposed as an emergency, although I think that was removed. So, it’s troubling to see another emergency that likely refers to vaccination.
When they use words like ‘optional’ and ‘voluntary’ I read ‘forced’ and ‘mandatory’. Even if the bill is initially passed that way, the transformation of Oregon government from liberal to repressive doesn’t allow for much credibility.
There is already so much medical coverage and oversight for Medicaid in this state it is really hard to see how those who might benefit aren’t already being offered such services.
People who are voted in to serve the public are losing their minds. This would be a violation of people’s civil rights. This is just a back door into forcing vaccinations on the public.
It’s none of their business – it will go from voluntary to mandatory and they won’t tell you the real reason behind it – but it smacks of government overreach again.
OMG – put the effort into calls reporting suspected abuse! Quit worrying Pharma making enough money.
Why can’t people see that they are slyly, & slowly encroaching our give rights? The more we continue to have this “Blind faith” in the health care system the more we ultimately lose in the end.
do not live in OREGON but if I did and some uninvited tries to visit –well they can suffer the consequences same as a burglar
It’s becoming harder and harder to want to stay in America. Can one claim medical refuge in a country that isn’t so dictated by Pharma?
Where do these legislators get off with their arrogance and oversight.
I think home visits for new moms is a good idea, as long as it is not mandatory (that would be insane) and as long as the purpose of the visit is simply to make sure that new moms are getting the support they need, because unfortunately, many in our society are not. However, scrap the “medical care” and “immunizations”–the goal should be to provide support, period.
Voluntary programs with government agencies easily slide into mandatory. What kind of funding and oversight will these nurses have? Like Oregon doesnt have enough things to spend money on. Like they will have effective oversight to prevent abuses and predjudicial medical kidnappings like we do for child protective service workers? Yeah right. More government interference is not in the best interest of everyone. Our children do not belong to the state. Increase health insurance options not spying campaigns.
I wish I could get behind a proposal like this one; but unfortunately, I can’t, since vaccinations are pushed in all these medical visits.
I am a “liberal” (dislike these labels because all of us have many positions and opinions that don’t suit the label) –but like Robert F. Kennedy, have read a lot of information on immunizations and gotten information from the NVIC for many years and thank them for their work.
I’m frustrated by how many people agree that “big Pharma” is over medicating the population and that they have too much power and control; and yet, they think that anyone who questions the vaccine schedule is an “anti-vaxxer” and a loon. Sigh.
I too dislike labels, but bills like this are the logical consequence of the liberal/statist ideology. The elitist/central planners know what’s better for us than we do. It’s even OK for them to censure us by blocking any alternative ideas/thoughts from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc., (thank you, Rep Adam Schiff, D CA). With all due respect to you and other liberals, if you value the inherent rights that our nation was founded on (including the freedom to decide what goes into our bodies and not put into our bodies), it’s time to open-mindedly re-evaluate one’s political belief system, including the mainstream media sources that subconsciously bombard and shape those belief systems. The fact that the mainstream media and our politicians are controlled by BigPharma/CDC’s revolving door is blatantly obvious to anyone who even half-halfheartedly investigates this issue. Big Pharma outspends all other lobbyists in DC; even outspending oil/energy 2:1. Consider sources like independent reporter Sharyl Attkisson for truth in reporting (https://sharylattkisson.com/); The Independent Institute (independent.org), Vaccinechoiceprayercommunity.org, Robert Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense (childreshealthdefense.org), NVIC.org, The HighWire, Del BigTree (thehighwire.com/watch). The truth will prevail and set you free.
So people who can be bribed and/or intimidated are receiving enormous power at a time when human trafficking of children in state custody is skyrocketing…
This is more ominous than it initially appears. Oregon is practically a socialist state. This portends ownership of citizens and eventual total control. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that what has happened in EVERY other socialist government couldn’t happen in America because it will . There comes a time in every ideological State in which they crack down on opposition. Citizens who disagree are deemed ‘mentally ill’, unfit for employment and yes, unfit to be parents. If you don’t go along with everything, they WILL make you pay. If you’re raising your children to think for themselves, you will be persecuted and your children could be removed. Also, if your children are disabled, they can come into your home, just like the National Socialists (Nazis) did and remove your retarded or disabled children ostensibly to take them to a nice place in the country where they can enjoy life and be looked after with others of their ‘kind’. Those nice places were gas chambers, but the parents could do nothing.
In England, which should know better, two toddlers, Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans, were allowed to die by the National Health Service, even though doctors from around the world offered hope and treatment, at no cost to the NHS or the government, in any way whatsoever, and they would not allow the children to be removed. They died. I lived in the UK for a while and used to love that country but I would not want to have a child there. What good is universal health care if they won’t treat you, nor even allow other treatment? I don’t for one moment, believe that Oregon is concerned about children. This is all about control.
Absolutely true. Socialism = eventual total gov’t control over all aspects of our lives. Ask anyone who lived in socialist Eastern Bloc countries pre- 1990’s that were under socialist control. They will unanimously inform you that they are completely dumbfounded that Socialist/Democratic politicians have any support at all in this country.
when you invite the gov into your home “we’re here to help,” Ron, WON’T THEY CAPTURE YOUR CHILDREN, AND ARREST OR INVESTIGATE YOU?.
Say or do the wrong thing and your children are no longer yours.
Unbelievable. This leads us on the path to total government control. Our own children will be directed by the state, with parents having no authority over their own family’s well-being. Is this a scary movie, or real life??? Kate Brown is out of her mind. Help us!