---
type: source
title: "Oregon SB 303 Data: Psilocybin Therapy Clients Average $153K Income, Nearly Double State Median"
author: "OPB / Oregon Health Authority SB 303 Data"
url: https://www.opb.org/article/2025/07/03/oregon-new-date-shows-psilocybin-therapy-clients-wealthier/
date: 2025-07-03
domain: health
secondary_domains: []
format: article
status: processed
processed_by: vida
processed_date: 2026-05-11
priority: high
tags: [psilocybin, Oregon, equity, access, income-disparity, SB303, demographic-data, mental-health-supply-gap]
intake_tier: research-task
extraction_model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5"
---

## Content

**Source basis:** Oregon Health Authority SB 303 client demographic data (Q1 2025, mandatory collection beginning January 2025). 1,509 clients received psilocybin services January-April 2025.

**Income data (key finding):**
- Average annual income of Oregon psilocybin service clients: ~$153,000
- Oregon median household income: ~$88,000
- Psilocybin client average is **nearly double Oregon's median** — the strongest single indicator of the access equity gap
- Majority of clients who disclosed income: earned over $95,000 annually

**Age data:**
- Majority of clients who shared age: over 45 years old

**Cost and access barriers:**
- Session cost: $1,200-$3,000 per session (OHA does not regulate pricing)
- Zero insurance coverage (Oregon state insurance mandate did NOT pass)
- Sheri Eckert Foundation: raised $670,000+ to provide subsidized access to 100+ people
- Hundreds more on waitlists for subsidized services — demand exists among lower-income populations, but supply of subsidized access is tiny

**Expert commentary:**
- Heidi Pendergast (Healing Advocacy Fund): "People, as they get older, generally have more means to be able to spend on services"
- Nate Howard (Sheri Eckert Foundation): "For now, psilocybin therapy is naturally inaccessible" — depends on philanthropy, not sustainable funding

**Additional context (SB 303 data framework):**
- SB 303 (2023) required demographic data collection starting January 2025
- Data collected per administration session; aggregated quarterly
- OHA does not collect income data for clients who decline to report (reporting is voluntary)
- The income data likely understates the gap: lower-income clients may be less likely to disclose income in a wellness context

## Agent Notes
**Why this matters:** This is the most concrete empirical data point for the "serves the already-served" assessment of Oregon's psilocybin program. The $153K average income vs. $88K state median is a 74% premium — this is not a modest disparity, it is a structural access failure. The subsidized access demand (hundreds on waitlists for 100 subsidized slots) confirms that the unmet need exists in underserved populations; the barrier is cost and coverage, not interest.

**What surprised me:** The $670K philanthropic fund serving 100 people illustrates the scale problem vividly: $6,700/person for subsidized access, and that's probably at cost. At market rates ($1,500-3,000/session plus facilitator training overhead), there's no path to population-scale access without insurance coverage. The math doesn't work.

**What I expected but didn't find:** Any evidence of insurance coverage discussions at the Oregon state level. The state insurance mandate didn't pass. Zero private payers covering psilocybin services in Oregon. The reimbursement path is blocked.

**KB connections:**
- [[the mental health supply gap is widening not closing because demand outpaces workforce growth and technology primarily serves the already-served rather than expanding access]] — this is the strongest single empirical confirmation of this claim for the psilocybin category
- [[social isolation costs Medicare 7 billion annually and carries mortality risk equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day]] — the populations most affected by mental health burden (economically disadvantaged, rural) are precisely those excluded from psilocybin services

**Extraction hints:**
- New claim: "Oregon's Measure 109 psilocybin services serve a client population with average income of $153,000 — 74% above Oregon's $88,000 median — reproducing the 'already-served' access pattern despite being a publicly regulated program"
- The philanthropic waitlist data (hundreds waiting for 100 slots at $670K cost) is a concrete illustration of the gap between latent demand among underserved populations and available subsidized supply

**Context:** OPB (Oregon Public Broadcasting) is a credible regional source reporting directly on OHA SB 303 data. The income figure is from OHA's mandatory quarterly reporting, not a survey — it reflects actual disclosed client income for Q1 2025. Published July 2025, six months after SB 303 data collection began.

## Curator Notes (structured handoff for extractor)
PRIMARY CONNECTION: [[the mental health supply gap is widening not closing because demand outpaces workforce growth and technology primarily serves the already-served rather than expanding access]]
WHY ARCHIVED: Provides the most specific income data yet on who uses state-regulated psilocybin services. The $153K average vs. $88K median is precise, sourced, and directly relevant to the equity argument. This confirms the access pattern hypothesis with hard numbers.
EXTRACTION HINT: The key claim is the income disparity (specific number: $153K vs. $88K) plus the philanthropic waitlist as evidence of latent demand among lower-income populations. These together tell the story: demand exists across income levels, but access is determined by ability to pay $1,500-3,000 OOP.
