June 17, 2013 — A measure that would cramp down on an abusive payment practice to ambulatory surgical centers by Regence BlueCross BlueShield has been resurrected and attached in the House to another bill, Senate Bill 724, which passed the House on Friday.
June 17, 2013 — Paul Terdal is not a lawyer, and he never intended on learning the Oregon insurance code backwards and forwards, but his sons have autism, and his health insurance company — Kaiser Permanente — wouldn’t pay for their prescribed treatment, applied behavioral analysis.
Senate Bill 413 directs the Department of Consumer & Business Services and the Oregon Health Authority to add tools for cost containment to the health insurance rate review process, while insurers will also give consumers more notice when they seek rate changes.
Jun 14, 2013
OHSU Scholarship Bill Passes Budget Committee Over Bates’ ObjectionsChristen McCurdyThu, 06/13/2013 - 17:24
June 13, 2013 — The Committee on Ways & Means on Wednesday passed Senate Bill 2 — giving $4.9 million in scholarships to Oregon Health & Science University for doctors and other healthcare professionals who agree to serve in rural and underserved areas.
Fierce lobbying by the chemical and toy industries fails to kill the Toxics Disclosure for Healthy Kids Act, as the bill passes to the full House on a party-line vote.
The House Health Committee amended Senate Bill 721 to build in legal protections to volunteer coaches who act in good faith to comply with the bill’s intent, which is to educate them on the symptoms of concussions and keep children out of practice or games without medical consent.
June 11, 2013 — Sen. Alan Bates, D-Medford, said he would work to keep an amended version of the bad actor bill alive, calling the legal dispute in Salem a threat to Oregon’s ability to transform its healthcare system.
Republicans opposed the bill on the grounds that vaccines could infringe on religious liberty, but Democrats argued the threat of communicable disease to children and the community outweighs those concerns as state drops below herd immunity for certain preventable diseases.
June 6, 2013 — School districts now have a choice. Starting in 2015, they can either purchase insurance coverage from the exchange, known as Cover Oregon, or remain in the Oregon Educators Benefit Board. Earlier this week, the Senate gave districts that authority.
June 5, 2013 — The Joint Ways & Means Subcommittee on Human Services voted Tuesday to approve a preliminary budget for the Oregon Health Authority’s Public Health Division, putting up $4 million from the tobacco master settlement agreement for prevention.
