OR HB2024

Oregon Health Authority must establish a grant program to recruit and retain behavioral health care providers at eligible entities including urban Indian health programs, tribal mental health programs, opioid treatment programs, and facilities serving populations where at least 50% are uninsured, Medicaid, or Medicare patients

Grants may fund scholarships for behavioral health students, loan forgiveness, tuition assistance, and stipends for graduate students; recipients must report on expenditures, provider types assisted, and staffing vacancy rates before and after receiving grants

Amends the United We Heal Medicaid Payment Program to clarify that supplemental payments to behavioral health entities must support apprenticeships, on-the-job training, wraparound services, increased wages, health care benefits, and workplace safety through labor-management training trusts

Requires behavioral health employers (residential treatment facilities, sobering facilities, detox centers, halfway houses, mobile crisis teams, emergency shelters) to provide mandatory worker safety training covering workplace risks, de-escalation techniques, and reporting options for safety violations, with initial training within 90 days of hire and refresher training every three years (operative July 1, 2026)

Appropriates $5,969,772 in General Fund and $1,137,207 in federal funds for the 2025-2027 biennium to implement the grant program and Medicaid payment provisions; effective July 1, 2025 under emergency clause