ORS 743B.003: Purposes.

The purposes of ORS 743.004, 743.022, 743.535, 743B.003 to 743B.127 and 743B.800 are:

      (1) To promote the availability of health insurance coverage to groups regardless of their enrollees’ health status or claims experience;

      (2) To prevent abusive rating practices;

      (3) To require disclosure of rating practices to purchasers of small employer and individual health benefit plans;

      (4) To prohibit the use of preexisting condition exclusions;

      (5) To encourage the availability of individual health benefit plans for individuals who are not enrolled in group health benefit plans;

      (6) To improve renewability and continuity of coverage for employers and covered individuals;

      (7) To improve the efficiency and fairness of the health insurance marketplace; and

      (8) To ensure that health insurance coverage in Oregon satisfies the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-191) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148) as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (P.L. 111-152), and that enforcement authority for those requirements is retained by the Director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services.