In a U.S. Veterans Affairs system that ranks hospitals from best – a score of 5 – to worst – a score of 1 – the VA Portland hospital is near the bottom of the barrel, with a score of 2. But in the weeks after Secretary of Veterans Affairs David J.
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In an exclusive briefing with The Lund Report earlier this month, leaders at the Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System shared their efforts to tackle veteran suicide rates, and improve lower-than average local performance within the national VA system.
Jun 23 2017
Senate President Peter Courtney says he is disappointed at the end of the partnership.
Less than two weeks after officials at Oregon Health & Science University told The Lund Report they intended to negotiate a new agreement with Salem Health, that effort to repair a relationship ori
Jun 20 2017
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The Oregon senator and ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee dismissed a question about whether Democrats will go for single-payer if Trumpcare leaves the healthcare system in shambles. He plans to fight, but Democrats are outnumbered and without any cards. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden has come out swinging against the Senate version of Trumpcare, which Republicans have given the Orwellian title “Better Care Reconciliation Act,” even as it jacks up insurance costs for many people, especially seniors, and gradually defunds Medicaid, shedding millions from the program. Jun 23 2017 |
House Bill 3355 sets up a program that allows psychologists with increased training to prescribe psychotropic medications in a medical setting. The bill is designed to offset the declining number of psychiatrists and over-reliance on family practice doctors, who have less mental health expertise, to prescribe mental health drugs. The Oregon House of Representatives greenlighted a path to a limited number of psychologists to prescribe medications for mental disorders, passing HB 3355 on a 43-2 vote. Jun 23 2017 |
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Senate Bill 1008, which was to use Volkswagen settlement money to get old dirty diesel engines out of Oregon, has been heavily amended under pressure from contractors and truckers. Meanwhile, Associated Oregon Industries is also trying to kill a bill to measure air pollutants after the Bullseye Glass scandal. Oregon senators appear poised to protect Oregon school children from the diesel fumes coming off of school buses, but they are not yet ready to protect them from the foul air coming off of other diesel vehicles. Jun 23 2017 |
At a Portland-based conference on the MACRA reforms passed in Congress in 2015, medical providers dug into how federal efforts to fundamentally overhaul Medicare reimbursements are driving changes in how they manage patients and budgets. Hundreds of medical providers gathered in Portland Thursday to discuss primary-care centered health, changes in how the government pays for quality, and a drastic overhaul that’s reshaping healthcare across the country – and that won’t be affected by the rancorous debate now unfolding over the fa Jun 23 2017 |
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Republicans in the U.S. Senate on Thursday unveiled a bill that would dramatically transform the nation’s Medicaid program, make significant changes to the federal health law’s tax credits that help lower-income people buy insurance and allow states to water down changes to some of the law’s coverage guarantees. Jun 23 2017 |
During the month of June be sure and save big on your regular job listing by entering HealthJobs20 during the checkout process. DePaul Treatment Centers has a mission to work with individuals, families and communities to create freedom from addiction. Jun 23 2017 |
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People getting subsidies to help buy health insurance would see at least three sharp changes — tied to both age and income — that could dramatically affect how much they pay for coverage if the Senate Republican health plan becomes law. Jun 23 2017 |
The Oregon Health Forum, The Lund Report’s educational arm, has launched a redesigned website ahead of a fall event program that will begin with a look at healthcare in public schools. Jun 21 2017 |
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For the hundreds of rural U.S. hospitals struggling to stay in business, health policy decisions made in Washington, D.C., this summer could make survival a lot tougher. Jun 23 2017 |
The Senate Republican Leader scoffed at the notion that the GOP never supports tax increases or turns a cold shoulder to the state’s most vulnerable citizens, even as Congressional Republicans have vied to end the Medicaid expansion. The $19.9 billion budget for the Oregon Health Authority and the $548 million provider tax to help fund the state’s share breezed through the Oregon Senate on Wednesday. Jun 21 2017 |
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After a summer hiatus, the Oregon Health Forum will return on Aug. 23 with a exploration of how to break down the wall between K-12 funding and healthcare budgets. Millions of education dollars are being spent delivering healthcare in schools across Oregon – from insulin injections offered by a teacher, to mental health counseling at a high school, to a school nurse working with a medically fragile child. Jun 16 2017 |
The Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems argues costs would shift to other payers if rates are capped by the Public Employees Benefit Board. But evidence shows the opposite: lower Medicare rates have forced hospitals to become more efficient, and those savings have been passed on to private insurance. Prescription drug price control legislation being debated in the state Legislature could cut premium costs for public employees by 3 percent, and help the state maintain inflation levels below 3.4 percent. Jun 21 2017 |
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A growing portion of homeless people in Oregon’s largest county is disabled, and service agencies report anecdotally that the people they serve are older and sicker than a decade ago. A new point-in-time count of homeless people in Multnomah County, released Monday, shows the growing problem of homelessness through the comforting lens of numbers. Jun 21 2017 |
 A spokesman is calling statements from a former Zoom Health Plan employee "inaccurate and inflammatory," and says the company complied with medical loss ratio rules. In response to allegations made by a former Zoom Health Plan employee, and concerns raised by several of the insurance company's former members, Zoom spokesman Len Bergstein issued the following statement on Thursday: Jun 15 2017 |
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State officials have confirmed they are assisting a federal investigation into Zoom Health, which is in receivership, even as they proceed with a lawsuit against Zoom Management. The exact nature of a federal investigation into Zoom Health Plan is not clear, but officials with the company, as well as state insurance regulators and a several current and former employees, all have confirmed that investigators delivered a subpoena to CEO Dave Sanders on Thursday morning. Jun 9 2017 |
The House passed a bill that will allow the state records division to stop charging homeless people for their birth certificates. Three other bills go to Gov. Brown, protecting patients from surprise billing, putting DCO members on CCO boards and banning whip-its for minors. The Oregon House voted for a measure that will allow Oregon-born homeless people to get free birth certificates, a critical starting point to receiving government assistance, earning a GED and getting ahead in life. Jun 14 2017 |