Nick Budnick

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Bruce Goldberg is pictured between Oregon Health Authority Director Sejal Hathi and former Gov. John Kitzhaber at a panel discussion hosted by the Oregon Health Forum last year. | JAKE THOMAS

Kotek taps Oregon Health Plan reformer to help with response to federal cuts

Bruce Goldberg, a physician who helped develop state reforms that drew national acclaim, will assist the governor's office as it wrestles with federal Medicaid reductions expected to strip millions of their coverage and harm struggling rural hospitals

Oct 9, 2025
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Rep. Hai Pham, right, talks about Oregon health care at the 2025 CCO Oregon conference in Salem, Oct. 6, 2025. Seated to his right is Sen. Wlnsvey Campos. | NICK BUDNICK/THE LUND REPORT

Budget woes, federal cuts mean lawmakers will scrutinize health plan for low-income Oregonians

Reevaluating programs, cutting red tape and even single-payer concepts were in the mix as a panel of state lawmakers talked about the challenges ahead at a providers' conference in Salem.

Oct 7, 2025
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Courtesy OHSU

OHSU wins $4.25 million for autism research at an unusual time

Oregon researchers will work with counterparts at two other institutions, data and an advisory board to study resources for families

Oct 2, 2025
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SHUTTERSTOCK

Eastern Oregon regional care organization will stay in Oregon Health Plan

After balking at the state’s rates, an executive said Tuesday the rural managed care group will continue serving 80,000 low-income people in the state’s ‘frontier’ counties

Sep 30, 2025
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A view of OHSU's South Waterfront campus in September 2024. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

OHSU prof files $1.5 million defamation suit against AFSCME

A researcher of neurological diseases says a union campaign accusing her of misconduct is false and hurting her career; the union representing postdoc researchers has claimed she's in the wrong

Sep 26, 2025
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Portland-area counties could lay off dozens, slash mental health programs

Reductions in the state's low-income health care program are forcing Washington, Clackamas and Multnomah counties to contemplate eliminating the bulk of their staffing for programs intended to help the severely mentally ill. The cuts are not related to federal cuts expected to take effect in later years.

Sep 25, 2025

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The Medicaid-funded Oregon Health Plan provides free medical, dental and behavioral health care to 1.4 million low-income Oregonians using managed care entities, counties and nonprofits, among other providers. Pictured is a nursing room on the second floor of Multnomah County's Behavioral Health Resource Center. | EMILY GREEN/THE LUND REPORT

PacificSource mulls pullout from serving low-income Oregon Health Plan in Lane County

Springfield-based insurer says it can't make the state's proposed rates work, meaning it can't sign a contract to oversee care for low-income people. It's unclear if the state will extend the deadline to allow further negotiations, or if about 90,000 low-income people will face changes in how they get care.

Sep 18, 2025
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The federal health insurance marketplace, HealthCare.gov on May 31, 2022. | THE LUND REPORT/EMILY GREEN

Oregon health insurance premiums going up — but less than in other states

Oregon's average rate hikes of close to 10% could get far worse for many people, since they don't include the scheduled expiration of premium subsidies being debated in Congress. But the state's hikes are still lower than in many other states.

Sep 16, 2025
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Clackamas jail care failures led to man’s death, suit claims

Suit’s allegations trace how Robert Hight III went from cooperatively requesting medical attention in jail to lying unresponsive on his cell’s floor due to a massive “brain bleed”

Sep 11, 2025
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For a time, drive-through and walk-in vaccinations were available across the state, including some funded by the state. | PHOTO COPYRIGHT: PORTLAND TRIBUNE (USED WITH PERMISSION)

Central Oregon urgent care settlement follows ‘upcoding’ fraud allegations

State justice department investigators concluded physician Terrace Mucha knew or should have known her company was billing the government for drive-through COVID tests in Bend at improperly high rates. But she said any violation was inadvertent.

Sep 11, 2025
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