For Immediate Release

Contact: David Reinbold, dreinbold@americanhumanist.org

(Feb. 20, 2025, Washington, DC) – Today, the Center for Freethought Equality, the advocacy arm of the American Humanist Association, applauds Oregon Representative Rob Nosse on his introduction of HB.2268, which would increase transparency requirements for health care cost sharing arrangements operating within the state.

Health care cost sharing arrangements, sometimes referred to as health care sharing ministries, operate across the United States with 1.7 million enrollees and counting. They are often religious organizations that advertise as health insurance options; however, unlike health insurance, these entities are not required to pay medical claims, and often deny or reject coverage based on religious or moral grounds.

Health care cost sharing plans are allowed to participate adjacent to the insurance marketplace and consumers across the country opt into these plans because they appear to cost less than traditional health insurance. Health cost sharing plans are not subject to the same regulatory requirements that health insurance plans must adhere to, leaving consumers unprepared when faced with medical claims denied on religious or moral grounds.

“The Center for Freethought Equality is proud to partner with Rep. Nosse to bring greater transparency to these questionable organizations masquerading as insurers. We stand ready to help Oregon pass this legislation to protect the well-being of its residents,” said Fish Stark, Executive Director of the Center for Freethought Equality. “Oregon can send a clear message to these health care cost sharing organizations, who often hide behind the pretense of religion, that denying vulnerable people health care coverage and defrauding them when they need it the most is unacceptable.”

Oregon’s HB.2268 provides a strong foundation for consumer protections. If passed, this legislation would:

• Require any person who offers or sells a health care cost sharing arrangement in the state to register with the Director of Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services;
• Require registrants to file annual reports that disclose the number of enrollees in the plan, the total amount of money the plan has collected from enrolled Oregon residents over the past 12 months, the total amount the health care cost sharing entity paid out as claims under the plan, among other disclosures;
• Mandate that health care cost sharing arrangements do not advertise or market their services as health insurance; and
• Mandate that health care cost sharing arrangements explicitly make certain disclosures of medical services it will not cover, such as reproductive health services, STD treatments, medications for HIV or AIDS, or gender-affirming care.

To read the full text of HB.2268, click here: https://apps.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/HB2268/Introduced

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The Center for Freethought Equality (CFE) is the political and advocacy arm of the American Humanist Association. CFE is dedicated to advancing the policy interests of humanists and atheists, and politically empowering our community in the United States. Alongside its advocacy and organizing efforts, CFE has an affiliated political action committee, the Center for Freethought Equality PAC, whose mission is to achieve equality for our community by increasing the number of open humanists and atheists, and allies, in public office at all levels of government. 

The American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists, and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming worldview of humanism, which—without beliefs in gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.