The Lund Report | Oregon's most vital source of health news

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Judge Orders Preliminary Injunction Against Trillium and Health Net

Moving swiftly, a federal judge found that health insurers Trillium Community Health Plan and Health Net Health Plan had likely misled consumers about their Medicare Advantage plans for 2020 and ordered the two companies to post clarifying statements on their websites and send clarifying informat

By: Christian Wihtol

Oct 21 2019

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Thursday's Oregon Health Forum focused on the next round of the Oregon Health Plan/Edward Jurcys Photography/The Lund Report

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Trillium Signs Hundreds Of Deals in Portland-area Medicaid Market

Trillium Community Health Plan appears to be breaking down barriers in the Portland area.

By: Wyatt Stayner

Oct 17 2019

PDX International Airport/Port of Portland

They're Back. Person With Measles Passes Through PDX

Multnomah County health authorities say a person with measles entered Portland through the airport last weekend, potentially exposing people who were also at PDX at the time.

By: OPB Staff

Oct 18 2019

Health Share Told To Improve Its Transportation Service

The Oregon Health Authority has told one of the state’s largest care providers for low-income people to improve its transportation services.

By: Kristian Foden-Vencil

Oct 18 2019

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PeaceHealth Files Suit, Accusing Trillium, Health Net Of False Advertising

PeaceHealth has filed suit against Trillium Community Health Plan and its affiliate, Health Net Health Plan of Oregon, alleging the two insurers engaged in false advertising by touting their Medicare Advantage plans for 2020 as including PeaceHealth as an in-network provider.

By: Christian Wihtol

Oct 16 2019

Fruit flies under blue light for an experiment on the light's effect on aging./Oregon State University

Study: Daily Exposure To Blue Light May Accelerate Aging

Prolonged exposure to blue light, such as that which emanates from your phone, computer and household fixtures, could be affecting your longevity, even if it’s not shining in your eyes.

By: Steve Lundeberg

Oct 21 2019

Court Temporarily Blocks Oregon's Flavored Vape Ban

Less than a week after Oregon approved a six-month ban on flavored vaping products, the Oregon Court of Appeals has granted an immediate, temporary stay against the ban.

By: Kristian Foden-Vencil

Oct 17 2019

Opinion: Not What the Doctor Ordered

Rising health care costs are a real concern, especially for senior citizens who live on fixed incomes and for patients with chronic diseases. Proposed policy prescriptions may help reduce those costs but only if taken as directed.

By: By David P. Russo

Oct 18 2019

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Death Toll Rises Among Homeless In Multnomah County

More homeless people than ever are dying in Multnomah County.

By: Christian Wihtol

Oct 16 2019

Judge Nan Waller speaks from the bench during a court hearing Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, at the Multnomah County Justice Center in Portland./Conrad Wilson/OPB

Cut To Oregon State Hospital Wait Times Leaves Some Without Mental Health Care

Court had been in session for close to an hour before Ms. Nilsen’s turn came.

By: Conrad Wilson

Oct 16 2019

Camelia.Boban (CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)), from Wikimedia Commons

OSU Will Help Shepherd Big Data Cancer Project

Oregon State University has been awarded $8.8 million to help lead a 3½-year effort to make the volumes of data arising from cancer research more accessible, organized and powerful.

By: Steve Lundeberg

Oct 16 2019

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Newcomer PacificSource Makes Inroads In Marion/Polk Counties

One down, two to go. Insurer PacificSource Community Solutions says Salem Clinic, a large physician-owned practice based in Salem, has agreed to join PacificSource’s Medicaid provider network for the Marion and Polk county area beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

By: Christian Wihtol

Oct 14 2019

Alisha Colyer applied for St. Joseph Medical Center’s charity care around 2007 when her husband went to the emergency room for pneumonia. But the issue was never settled and years later a collection of medical bills helped push the couple into bankruptcy./Dan DeLong for Kaiser Health News

Patients Eligible For Charity Care Instead Get Big Bills

When Ashley Pintos went to the emergency room of St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington in 2016, with a sharp pain in her abdomen and no insurance, a representative demanded a $500 deposit before treating her.

By: Jordan Rau

Oct 14 2019

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PeaceHealth Lays Off 50 In Support Services

Vancouver, Wash.-based PeaceHealth has laid off 50 people and created 15 new positions as it streamlines its “support services structure,” the non-profit hospital system said Thursday in response to questions from The Lund Report.

By: Christian Wihtol

Oct 10 2019

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Oregon Medicaid Insurers Under The Gun To Line Up Health Care Providers

In Oregon's three biggest Medicaid markets, insurers and health care providers are having such a hard time coming to terms with each other following the state's recent shakeup of its Medicaid program, that the state has given insurers until Dec.1 to finalize contracts with providers such as docto

By: Christian Wihtol

Oct 7 2019

Trump’s New Order For Medicare Packs Potential Rise In Patients’ Costs

Vowing to protect Medicare with “every ounce of strength,” President Donald Trump spoke this month to a cheering crowd in Florida.

By: Julie Appleby

Oct 12 2019

Vapers, Vape Stores Objecting To Crackdown

Vapers across the country are swarming Twitter, the White House comment line and

By: Rachel Bluth and Lauren Weber

Oct 10 2019

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Brown Bans Sale of Flavored Vapes; Unflavored Pot Not Affected

Responding to the rising alarm over vaping, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown on Friday issued a temporary ban on the sale of flavored vaping products and directed state agencies to identify and ban other vaping products that cause lung injury or death.

By: Christian Wihtol

Oct 4 2019

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OSU Study Suggests Oregon Medicaid System Is Cutting Needless Hospital Visits

Oregon’s Medicaid program is helping to cut expensive unscheduled trips to the hospital by low-income, government-insured patients, an Oregon State University study

By: Christian Wihtol

Oct 8 2019

The Latest Briefs

Briefly: Salem Hospital At Near Capacity

By: Lynne Terry

Mar 28 2019

Press Releases

Read the latest press releases from organizations around the state.

Press Release: Multnomah County Awarded $1.2 Million To Reduce Opioid Misuse

By: Lynne Terry

Oct 21 2019

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