Chris Gray

Nosse Plans Drug Price Transparency Bill for Oregon in 2018

President Trump has decried PhRMA, accusing the drug companies of “getting away with murder,” but so far Congress has taken only baby steps to the problem of surging drug costs, passing a provision from Rep. Kurt Schrader to ease the approval of generic competition to so-called “orphan drugs.”

Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, plans to introduce legislation that will require pharmaceutical companies to provide state regulators with detailed explanations of price hikes and their products’ effects on healthcare costs, mirroring a California state law enacted earlier this month.

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Chris Gray

Oregon’s Indian Tribes Experiment with New Mid-Level Dental Providers

Dental health aide therapists are trained to cover 50 procedures that a full dentist can do, helping poorly served native communities increase access. But the dental system in general is plagued by an approach that triages the symptoms of disease rather than preventing and eradicating tooth infections.

Oregon’s Indian tribes are testing a new mid-level dental provider -- a dental health aide therapist -- to close gaps to access that have long plagued the native community.

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Chris Gray

McConnell Kills Cassidy-Graham Bill, Which Would Have Punished Oregon the Most

Congressional Republicans appear to be testing Albert Einstein’s theory of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The GOP once again couldn’t cobble enough members of their own party together to support a bill to repeal Obamacare.

The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has pulled the latest iteration of Trumpcare from the Senate agenda, spiking a bill on Tuesday that would’ve hurt Oregon more than any other state, per capita.

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Chris Gray

Greenlick Encourages OHA to Delay New CCO Contracts to 2020

The House Health chairman has tried to revamp the CCOs before they get a new 5-year contract, arguing they need greater transparency and accountability. A year's delay would give the new administration more time to improve a system the public has had to support with more taxes.

The Oregon Health Authority may delay a new contract for Medicaid coordinated care organizations until 2020, giving the state a chance to evolve the framework for the publicly-funded insurance system for the poor and disabled.

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Chris Gray

DHS Unveils Plan to Slam the Door on Support for Disabled Children

Democrats balanced Oregon’s 2017-2019 budget on the backs of disabled kids; starting next summer, the state will stop allowing most children to enroll in a program that provides supports that often keeps parents from placing their children in residential care.

Under pressure from legislators to cut costs, the Department of Human Services outlined a plan Tuesday that will seek federal permission to close the door on children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, cutting off a program to receive in-home supports unless their families are in o

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Chris Gray

Senate Hearing Into OHA Communications Scandal Fizzles

Over the protests of Republican Sen. Kim Thatcher, Democrats said it’s time to move on and give the new leadership team a chance at the Oregon Health Authority, a position that FamilyCare shared.

A Senate committee opened and closed a public hearing on the Oregon Health Authority’s communications scandal involving FamilyCare, as the people involved with the ordeal failed to show up at the hearing.

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Chris Gray

Navigating Forest Fires and Heat Waves, Oregon Keeps Seniors Safe

But as more serious disasters in Florida and Texas show, questions remain about how prepared Oregon will be for a disaster that affects more people.

Hurricanes Irma and Harvey have been like a post-traumatic shock for a country that survived Hurricane Katrina, which took the lives of 215 people in nursing homes and hospitals, often because the system was not prepared to look out for these people.

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Chris Gray

Sugary Beverage Tax Campaign Launches in Multnomah County

A trio of billionaires are behind the campaign to add Oregon’s largest county to a list of communities from Seattle to Philadelphia to Chicago that have added steep taxes on soda pop and sugary drinks designed to reduce the consumption of these beverages, which are leading drivers of diabetes and obesity.

A coalition of public health officials and liberal Portland politicians will kick off a push for a 1.5-cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages with a rally on Saturday, marking the start of a petition drive to ask Multnomah County voters to raise the tax on the May 2018 ballot.

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Chris Gray

Oregon Delegation Raises $4.7 Million for Federal Campaigns

Rep. Greg Walden raised even more than the state’s two senators in the first six months of 2017, including more than $500,000 from the healthcare industry even as he helped push a Trumpcare bill that most of the industry hated.

Oregon’s congressional delegation raised $4.7 million in the first six months of 2017, amassing an impressive reelection war chest even though no seat has switched party hands in the state since 2008.

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Chris Gray

Medicaid Doctor Groups Donate $60,000 for Brown’s Re-Election

The collective money from the physician groups is the governor’s second-highest donation this year, but a fraction of the cool half million that Republican Rep. Knute Buehler received from Nike tycoon Phil Knight, the “Andrew Carnegie of Oregon.”

A half dozen doctors’ groups that help manage Medicaid in Oregon have given $60,000 to Gov. Kate Brown’s re-election campaign.

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Chris Gray

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