Governor Kotek has quietly assembled a group of health care executives, union representatives, and care providers to advise on Oregon's looming Medicaid budget crisis — with the state facing $11 billion in lost federal revenue over five years and the potential loss of coverage for up to 200,000 Oregonians.

The advisory group met for the first time on November 5, 2025, and convenes every two weeks. Its composition — healthcare executives, labor unions, and frontline providers — signals that the Governor is building consensus for cuts or restructuring that will require buy-in from powerful stakeholders. The urgency is real: federal work requirements take effect December 31, 2026, the provider tax ceiling drops from 6% to 3.5%, and 462,000 OHP members would need to prove eligibility every six months. Oregon's Healthier Oregon program covering 90,000+ undocumented immigrants faces elimination entirely.

For every healthcare organization in Oregon, this advisory group's recommendations will shape the operating environment for years. CCOs should expect changes to benefit design, eligibility criteria, or reimbursement structures. Hospitals dependent on Medicaid revenue — particularly rural facilities already on the brink, like Bay Area Hospital — face existential risk if the group recommends coverage reductions that shrink their patient base. Provider organizations should seek visibility into the group's deliberations and prepare scenario models for varying levels of federal funding loss. The private nature of these meetings suggests the recommendations may be politically difficult — the kind of cuts that require quiet stakeholder alignment before public announcement.

Watch for the advisory group's formal recommendations, expected before the 2027 legislative session budget process begins.