access & quality

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FREESTOCKS/UNSPLASH

Portland pharmacy Pharmaca suddenly closes, leaving customers scrambling

Once widespread, independent pharmacies are disappearing from many areas of the country, leaving many Americans without easy access to pharmacies.

Feb 16, 2023

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Paul Davis is a retired physician in Findlay, Ohio, who calls his uveal melanoma “one of the rarest tumors on the planet.” The rare eye cancer requires $50,000-a-week drug treatments to keep Davis alive, and he worries that cost may saddle his family with a crushing medical debt when he’s gone. | MADDIE MCGARVEY/KHN

Your money or your life: Patient on $50,000-a-week cancer drug fears leaving behind huge medical debt

Prices for cancer drugs have soared to from less than $10,000 annually in the 1990s to more than $200,000 today, expert says.

Feb 16, 2023

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FERNANDO ZHIMINAICELA/PIXABAY

State prepares to take 300,000 people off Oregon Health Plan as pandemic measures end

Officials expect difficulty in reaching members of the Medicaid-funded program after a three-year pause in eligibility checks. 

Feb 16, 2023
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NATALIA MERZLYAKOVA/FOTOLIA

UnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurer’s Inner Workings.

Insurers reject about 1 in 7 claims for treatment — and many people, faced with fighting insurance companies, simply give up.

Feb 7, 2023

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YEONHEE LEE/PIXABAY

Legislation seeks stable funding for new 988 crisis hotline

The bill would establish a new cell phone tax to fund a hotline that advocates and lawmakers say is key to rebuilding Oregon’s mental health services. 

Feb 7, 2023
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SHUTTERSTOCK

Some hospitals allowed secrecy around ‘crisis’ care standards, others aren’t

Depending on which regulation they cite, hospitals can keep their “crisis” from regulators, patients and the public.

Feb 2, 2023
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CareOregon. | COURTESY OF CAREOREGON

State should delay CareOregon-SCAN merger, urges prominent health care leader

John Santa, a longtime Oregon Health Policy Board member, says the risks deserve more study.

Feb 1, 2023
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SHUTTERSTOCK

Government lets health plans that ripped off Medicare keep the money

Health insurers had feared the federal government would demand repayment of billions of dollars in overcharges received as far back as 2011.

Jan 31, 2023

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Students at the OHSU School of Nursing Ashland Campus learn, practice and refine nursing skills at the campus’ Simulation and Clinical Learning Center. | COURTESY OF OHSU/ALLEN HALLMARK

Oregon colleges rethink approach to nursing educator gap

Programs like OHSU’s Oregon Nursing Education Academy aim to make education more accessible.

Jan 31, 2023
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SHUTTERSTOCK

Websites selling abortion pills are sharing sensitive data with Google

Online pharmacies that sell abortion pills are sharing sensitive data with Google and other third parties, which may allow law enforcement to prosecute those who use the medications to end pregnancies.

Jan 19, 2023