A hospital billing database that’s been in development for years is beginning to shed light on the huge variation in the cost of medical care across Oregon.
The same procedures often cost five times more in rural areas as they do in Portland metro hospitals, according to a Lund Report analysis of insurance claims data.
Aug 16 2018
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Reinsurance programs, which are gaining in popularity across the country, use federal money to help pay insurers who cover patients with high medical bills. They've helped curtail premium increases in Oregon.
When Tracy Deis decided in 2016 to transition from a full-time job to part-time contract work, the loss of her employer’s health insurance was not a major worry because she knew she could get coverage through the marketplace set up by the Affordable Care Act.
Aug 15 2018
Read the latest briefs on health issues, the industry, staffing, medicine and consumer concerns.
Briefly: Kaiser Lands $1.4 Million For Opioid Study
Jul 18 2018
For the second time this summer, Oregon health officials are trying to limit a potential outbreak.
Oregon health officials announced a new measles threat in the Portland area on Saturday.
Aug 11 2018
A 50-year-old Seattle man with leukemia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, did not want a surprise.
In the end, it wasn’t easy for Aaron McQ to decide when to die.
The 50-year-old Seattle man — a former world traveler, triathlete and cyclist — learned he had leukemia five years ago, followed by an even grimmer diagnosis in 2016: a rare form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
Aug 14 2018
Officials are working on a multi-pronged plan to promote competition, attack the drug rebate system and introduce other ways to lower prices.
Three months after President Donald Trump announced his blueprint to bring down drug prices, administration officials have begun putting some teeth behind the rhetoric.
Aug 10 2018
A total of 170 nurses, nurses aides and other hospital staff in Oregon were injured between 2013 and 2015 in attacks, mostly by patients.
When it comes to workplace violence, hospital nurses, aides and other staff members are among the most vulnerable.
Aug 8 2018
A report calls for scrutiny of made-to-order creams over fears they're overused and overpriced.
Medicare pays hundreds of millions of dollars each year for prescription creams, gels and lotions made-to-order by pharmacies — mainly as pain treatments.
Aug 9 2018
A shift is occurring, with many younger physicians concerned more about social justice than profit.
When the American Medical Association — one of the nation’s most powerful health care groups — met in Chicago this June, its medical student caucus seized an opportunity for change.
Aug 7 2018
The Unity Center for Behavioral Health started turning most patients away on Saturday.
Portland hospitals have stepped up to treat patients experiencing mental health crises amid the decision by the area's only psychiatric emergency hospital to turn most patients away.
Aug 1 2018
More than two dozen states nationwide that have developed guidelines for prescribing prescription pain pills. In Oregon, two task forces are looking at tightening prescribing guidelines for acute and chronic pain patients to try to stem overdoses.
It started with a rolled ankle during a routine Army training exercise. Shannon Hubbard never imagined it was the prologue to one of the most debilitating pain conditions known to exist, called complex regional pain syndrome.
Aug 6 2018
Jacobs signaled that he will listen and learn and then embark on a team effort to set the course for the future.
Oregon Health & Science University has a new president.
Aug 2 2018
When critics attacked Purdue Pharma for deaths linked to OxyContin, rivals stepped up their marketing of other potentially dangerous painkillers, such as fentanyl and morphine.
As Purdue Pharma faced mounting criticism over deaths linked to OxyContin, rival drugmakers saw a chance to boost sales by stepping up marketing of similarly dangerous painkillers, such as fentanyl, morphine and methadone, Purdue internal documents reveal.
Aug 2 2018
The action could drive up premiums for people who purchase insurance in the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
Insurers will again be able to sell short-term health insurance good for up to 12 months under final rules released Wednesday by the Trump administration.
Aug 1 2018
A news release by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid said it would resume the program following a suspension announced earlier this month, which prompted anger from insurers.
The federal government has backtracked on its suspension of payments to health insurers.
Jul 24 2018
A federal report calls the regulators to ramp up oversight of the industry, citing patients in pain or distress and a lack of care.
Elderly patients spent over two weeks in uncontrolled pain or respiratory distress. Acute care was rare on weekends. And recruiters went door to door pitching fraudulent schemes, luring healthy patients to sign up for hospice in exchange for free housecleaning and medicine.
Jul 31 2018
The Oregon Health Plan launched an ambitious system a decade ago to integrate medical and dental care. It is now working on a reform of the system, which is plagued with problems.
Ten years ago, Oregon embarked on the very ambitious plan to integrate mental health, addictions, dental and physical health care into the Oregon Health Plan.
Jul 24 2018
Medicare lowered the ratings of one in 11 of the nation's nursing homes, about 1,400 facilities, because they didn't have enough registered nurses or failed to provide payroll data.
Medicare has lowered its star ratings for staffing levels in 1 in 11 of the nation’s nursing homes — almost 1,400 of them — because they either had inadequate numbers of registered nurses or failed to provide payroll data that proved they had the required nursing coverage, federal records release
Jul 30 2018
Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is "hostile" to the Affordable Care Act which bans discrimination among patients.
Lindy Suhr has a terminal genetic disorder that causes her motor skills to deteriorate, her cognitive ability to suffer and life-threatening seizures. The 37-year-old takes seven medications, sees five specialists, and undergoes regular physical therapy. Her father has a genetic heart disease.
Jul 27 2018
The Fostering Hope Initiative works to repair problems at their root through a collaborative approach on the ground.
An initiative in Marion and Polk counties has a solution to strengthen at-risk families and build more resilient neighborhoods.
The Fostering Hope Initiative brings multiple partners together around a common goal, aligning resources and sharing leadership for planning and results.
Jul 25 2018
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Please contact rian@thelundreport.org. for information about the discount.
Aug 14 2018