Task force: Oregon’s behavioral health funding fragmented; staff to map flows and report in July

Senators, representatives and task force members heard a briefing June 15 that described Oregon’s behavioral health financing as a braided set of Medicaid reimbursements, county financial assistance agreements and a variety of one‑time or restricted grant funds that together pay for services — but that lack a shared data foundation for coordinated decision making.

"Oregon is braiding and blending together funds from a variety of different sources," said Shauna O'Neil, a senior research analyst with ElPro, summarizing interviews staff conducted in March. "Decision makers are frequently trying to target their funds toward filling gaps in the delivery system, but ... there really are key pieces of information missing that would be needed in order to truly employ that kind of a gap analysis approach to decision making."

Task force members said the finding matched their experiences: providers and county partners described unpredictable payment streams and administrative burdens that make it hard to sustain services, while governance boards and federal grant rules can restrict how one‑time funds are used.

O'Neil told the Joint Task Force on Regional Behavioral Health Accountability that ElPro organized its review around three aims: (1) identify primary funding conduits in Oregon's behavioral health system, (2) describe how decisions are made about those…