Providence Health Systems

Separately, proposed rules from the Insurance Division on Friday to make insurance companies comply with the recent court decision against Providence forces insurers to pay for claims back to 2008 and lifts a 25-hour cap on coverage for applied behavior analysis.

Lisa Stiller would prefer that every dollar paid for health insurance premiums go to provide health care, not advertising. Her nonprofit, Health Care for all Oregon, wants to know how much money Providence Health & Services paid the Portland Timbers' for naming rights to the Major League Soccer team’s home stadium now called Providence Park.

This story has been edited to include the top salaries of Providence executives Greg Van Pelt, Jack Friedman and Shelly Handkins. Why do more and more of Oregon’s hospitals seem to be joining together as conglomerates? Is healthcare reform hurting or helping the profitability of the state’s rural hospitals? Are these institutions taking on too much debt? Any why is it so hard to figure out how much a medical procedure is going to cost? Finding answers to these questions requires first understanding what’s happening inside Oregon’s hospitals – how profitable they are, how many people they serve, and how much they pay their senior executives. Last year, The Lund Report published a multi-part investigation into Oregon’s 26 acute care hospitals. Today, we begin to expand upon that project by digging into additional data sources and looking at all 60 hospitals – both nonprofit and for profit -- in the state.

A bipartisan bill crafted by Sen. Chip Shields and Sen. Larry George requires doctors to notify patients of their right to get tests or physical therapy from a provider of their choice, but Providence and others want to give patients as little notice as possible, and keep them inside their health system.

Senate Bill 533 awaits only a House vote to become law, expanding the length of time that a nurse practitioner can see an injured worker and giving workers access to their preferred chiropractor.

September 18, 2012 -- Independent workers – artists, journalists, information technology professionals, craftsmen and even those who earn their living buying and selling on eBay – will soon have the ability to buy health coverage without having to dicker with a privately-run insurance company such as Regence BlueCross BlueShield. Known as the Freelancers CO-OP of Oregon, people can sign up when enrollment opens for the health insurance exchange in October 2013.