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March 19, 2010 – Call it a war between the two most powerful Catholic healthcare systems in the Pacific Northwest. As it turned out, Providence Health System found itself on the losing side. The big prize – Southwest Washington Health Center – went to Bellevue-based PeaceHealth run by President Alan Yordy. Within the next 3-12 months, following a thorough due diligence process, that hospital system will become part of its strategic network. No money will trade hands because both systems are non-profit.

Starting Jan. 1, kids whose families earn between 200-300 percent of the federal poverty level will be eligible

Foster children and pregnant women are the first targets

October 27, 2009 -- The public option debated in Congress won’t gain any traction with Oregon’s insurance executives who keep comparing the proposal to traditional Medicare, claiming it’s a broken system in need of serious repair.

May 21, 2009 -- After losing a multi-million dollar contract it’s held for over 20 years, Regence BlueCross BlueShield is fighting back. It’s trying to persuade officials that they made a serious mistake by choosing their competitor, Providence Health Plans, as the statewide PPO for 102,507 public employees and their dependents.

May 21, 2009 -- Advantage Dental Services led by Mike Shirtcliff, DMD, its president, has filed paperwork to purchase Hayden Family Dentistry Group, which is owned by Cedric Hayden, DDS. Both plans serve Oregon Health Plan clients.

May 21, 2009 -- Despite intense lobbying pressure from organized medicine – including the Oregon Pediatric Society, the Oregon Psychiatric Association and the Oregon Medical Association – legislators may be close to declaring victory.

May 21, 2009 -- The fastest way to get up to speed on how Oregon spends its mental health dollar is to cruise the executive summary of the December 2008 report, Assessment and Evaluation of the Mental Health Care Delivery System in Oregon. This report was prepared at the request of the state legislature by the Public Consulting Group, a Boston-based management consulting firm.

May 21, 2009 -- Our healthcare system is morbidly obese. We outspend by at least two-to-one every other comparable country and still manage to underperform. The industry’s latest promise to trim an amount equal to less than 10% of current annual spending each year for the next ten years barely nudges that ratio. Our system serves as the world’s model for what not to do.

Associated Press WASHINGTON March 24, 2009 — The health insurance industry offered Tuesday for the first time to curb its controversial practice of charging higher premiums to people with a history of medical problems.