affordable care act

The Doctor Will Not See You Now

This article is for premium subscribers. Please sign up here for a tax-deductible subscription. 

If you're a premium subscriber, sign in below. 

Access to care in rural areas remains a concern as high Medicaid enrollment increases the pressure on a limited pool of providers, leading to wait times of two months or more.

This time of year, a popular statistic to track is the number of people who have signed up for private health insurance through the state for 2015: 116,471 and climbing, slightly more than a year ago.

By: 
Christopher Heun

Pharmaceutical Companies Gave Millions of Dollars to Oregon Physicians

This article is for premium subscribers. Please sign up here for a tax-deductible subscription. 

If you're a premium subscriber, sign in below. 

Research Centers Eli Lilly was the largest contributor followed by Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline with and Merck in this comprehensive analysis conducted by ProPublica, an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. The Lund Report extrapolated the Oregon data to present these latest findings.

Pharmaceutical companies handed out at least $40.7 million to Oregon physicians and healthcare institutions between 2009 and 2003.Undoubtedly, this figure does not represent all of the money, according to ProPublica because of the voluntary participation.

By: 
Jen Kruse and Diane Lund-Muzikant

Legislature May Consider Access to Abortion, Police Profiling, Closing ACA Gaps

The legislative kickoff, held earlier this week, brought together advocates and legislators to discuss proposals for the 2015 session.

The Oregon Health Equity Alliance will introduce six proposals in the 2015 session to improve health, according to its 33-member alliance, among them three priorities to provide healthcare to people left out of the Affordable Care Act.

By: 
Jan Johnson

Virginia Garcia Buckles at Assuming Washington County Public Health Services

The county has proposed ending its medical public health services, including vaccinations, family planning and STD screening in order to focus on education and epidemiology. But the handoff could strain safety net clinics already overwhelmed by the healthcare expansion.

Washington County has plans to unload its public health medical services, including vaccinations, family planning and venereal disease screening onto the safety net clinics, but a director of one of the private safety-net clinics is balking at shifting the role to his clinic.

By: 
Chris Gray

Oregon Cuts Uninsured Population from 14 Percent to 5 Percent

The dramatic decrease was driven by Gov. Kitzhaber’s full-hearted embrace of the Medicaid expansion, which ballooned the state-covered population by 59 percent. A survey indicates about half of the people who gained insurance through Cover Oregon had been previously uninsured.

Oregon has tremendously pared back the number of uninsured as a result of its embrace of the Affordable Care Act -- just 5 percent of the population remains uninsured compared to 14 percent last year.

By: 
Christopher David Gray

Cover Oregon Consumers Face Tight Window as All Must Make Switch

The move from the state website to the federal one means all 97,000 consumers must re-enroll to stay insured. But an open enrollment window set up before the law took effect means they’ll have just one month to sign back up or face a lapse in coverage. One insurance agent suggests the state extend 2014 plans into February to ensure a smooth switch for consumers.

Update: The article has been appended with comments from Cover Oregon staff.

By: 
Christopher David Gray

Pages

Subscribe to affordable care act