Oregon Health Leadership Council

The hospital assessment tax, used to leverage federal funding for the Oregon Health Plan, was first proposed in 2003 and has been renewed multiple times, often with heated debate. But this time, Republicans are signaling they’re on board for the new assessment.

Gov. Kitzhaber’s advisors and the Oregon Health Leadership Council collaborated on a proposal to give some money to CCOs, from a fund currently earmarked to help hospitals reform their delivery systems. The money would likely take years to reach the CCOs -- hospitals who paid into the transformation assessment that was authorized in 2013 won’t get rewarded until March.

Budget Chairmen Rep. Peter Buckley and Sen. Richard Devlin said they are ready to count on savings from the Public Employees Benefit Board, but not the Oregon Educators Benefit Board, which has not yet revamped its contract. Those savings are far from guaranteed.

Denise Honzel, who helped create the council and was its executive director for the past five years, announced her retirement but will remain a consultant to the Oregon Business Council

December 5, 2012 -- Oregon healthcare leaders support the sustainable 2013-15 budget package for the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) as proposed by Governor Kitzhaber. The key element in the budget package is achieving efficiencies in the health care delivery system totaling around $470 million in the next biennium and $11 billion over 10 years. Revenue for the package comes from extension of the hospital provider tax, as well as from the existing tobacco tax, Master Tobacco Settlement and General Fund. The hospital provider tax expires next September.

January 19, 2012—Oregon’s preparing to launch a major healthcare transformation that will lead to the creation of coordinated care organizations (CCOs) and integrate physical, mental and dental care for more than 600,000 people on the Oregon Health Plan. But an important question hangs in the balance. What will happen to the millions of dollars in reserve funds now held by the managed care plans that currently provide such services?