The Lund Report | Unlocking Our Healthcare System

Shields Pushes to Empower DCBS as Effort to Put Insurance Under UTPA Flounders

Senate Bill 414 would give DCBS the authority to order insurance companies to pay meritorious claims to consumers, while House Bill 3160 — the push to put allow consumers and businesses to sue insurers for fraud under the Unlawful Trade Practices Act, which passed the House — is close to being dead in the Senate.

By: Christopher David Gray

June 17, 2013 — Paul Terdal is not a lawyer, and he never intended on learning the Oregon insurance code backwards and forwards, but his sons have autism, and his health insurance company — Kaiser Permanente — wouldn’t pay for their prescribed treatment, applied behavioral analysis. Read More >>

What's New with The Lund Report June 19, 2013 -- The Lund Report drives dialogue in healthcare with innovative thinking, original analysis and investigative reporting. Committed to increasing the health of Oregonians, we give professionals and the public the keys to unlock Oregon’s healthcare system. Read More >>	Regence and Ambulatory Surgery Centers Reach Compromise June 17, 2013 — A measure that would cramp down on an abusive payment practice to ambulatory surgical centers by Regence BlueCross BlueShield has been resurrected and attached in the House to another bill, Senate Bill 724, which passed the House on Friday. Read More >>	Inconsistent Oregon Healthcare Workforce Policies Undermine the Triple Aim OPINION – June 19, 2013 -- The Lund Report article on June 13, “OHSU Scholarship Bill Passes Budget Committee Over Bates’ Objections,” examines Sen. Alan Bates’ opposition to SB 2, which proposes giving $4.9 million in scholarships to OHSU’s doctors who agree to serve in rural, underserved areas. Read More >>
Cambia Health Solutions’ Profit Climbs by 95 Percent June 14, 2013 -- Cambia Health Solutions is making less money from health insurance with every passing year. The Pacific Northwest insurance giant collected $7.4 billion in health insurance premiums in 2012 – down by $96.3 million from the year before. Since 2009, Cambia premium revenue has declined by 13.3 percent, according to financial documents obtained through public records requests by The Lund Report. Read More >>	OHSU Scholarship Bill Passes Budget Committee Over Bates’ Objections June 13, 2013 — The Committee on Ways & Means on Wednesday passed Senate Bill 2 — giving $4.9 million in scholarships to Oregon Health & Science University for doctors and other healthcare professionals who agree to serve in rural and underserved areas. Read More >>	Billing, Provider Issues Top List of OHP complaints June 13, 2013 – Billing issues, provider rudeness and access to primary care – particularly for people living with chronic pain – top the list of complaints that Oregon Health Plan patients have with providers and the plan itself, said Ellen Pinney, patient ombudsperson for the Oregon Health Authority, at last week’s meeting of Health Share of Oregon's community advisory council. Read More >>