oregon health plan

State Officials Insist Hospitals Not Overpaid Under Provider Tax

November 29, 2012 -- Poor Oregonians will receive an extra $2.033 billion in healthcare from mid-2011 through mid-2013, according to the latest estimates of the impact of a state tax on hospitals. Yet even many within the industry still don’t understand the state’s so-called provider tax, according to Judy Mohr-Peterson, director of medical assistance programs with the Oregon Health Authority.

Nov 28, 2012

Naturopaths Given Reprieve by Oregon Health Authority

November 16, 2012 -- Naturopathic doctors are “cautiously optimistic” that they will have a place within Oregon’s coordinated care organizations (CCOs) after officials threatened to cut them out of the primary-care system and seemingly ignore non-discrimination language in Senate Bill 1509.

Nov 15, 2012

Q&A with Governor Kitzhaber: In Oregon, a $1.9 Billion Medicaid Experiment

Courtesy of Pac/West Health Care Media Report. Originally published in the The Washington Post News Service with Bloomberg News

Sep 26, 2012

Naturopaths Left Behind in New Coordinated Care Organizations

September 19, 2012 -- Naturopathic medicine advocates worry that one of the many casualties of Oregon’s new coordinated care system will be Eugene resident Penelope Jones-Vaughn, who adopted a severely abused infant son with fetal alcohol syndrome from his birth mother. His symptoms included an inability to feel pain, weeklong bouts of constipation and waking up constantly with nightmares.

Sep 19, 2012

Oregon Health Plan Members Still Puffing Away

April 12, 2012 -- Oregon has one of the strongest programs in the country to help people stop puffing on cigarettes, yet its preponderance of low-income smokers remains high. A survey conducted last year found that 31 percent of people on the Oregon Health Plan are smokers, roughly 201,000 Oregonians, compared to a 15 percent rate among the general public.

Apr 12, 2012

After Slipping Through the Cracks, Beaverton Man to Receive Lifesaving Surgery

February 25, 2012 – Mike Trethewey is preparing to travel from Beaverton to Seattle for a life-saving surgery he needed three months ago. Trethewey was diagnosed last August with stage two metastatic testicular cancer and had three rounds of chemotherapy before he and his wife, Laura, who had Kaiser insurance became uninsured because they were unable to pay the monthly premium.

Feb 23, 2012

Author Believes Clinically Aware Benefit Plans Are Advantageous

OPINION -- February 22, 2012 -- Even before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was written, coverage designed to avoid sick patients was becoming an unacceptable goal. A goal that most commercial benefit plans and claim processing systems use, assuming predominantly healthy populations, and preventing those that need the coverage the most from being adequately addressed.

Feb 21, 2012

Senators Drawn Into Conflict Over Medicaid Policy

A fund-raising event and public hearing on the controversy occurred on the same day, raising eyebrows.

Jun 2, 2010

PacificSource Scores on Kids Connect Program

Starting Jan. 1, kids whose families earn between 200-300 percent of the federal poverty level will be eligible

Oct 27, 2009

Advantage Dental to Purchase Competitor

May 21, 2009 -- Advantage Dental Services led by Mike Shirtcliff, DMD, its president, has filed paperwork to purchase Hayden Family Dentistry Group, which is owned by Cedric Hayden, DDS. Both plans serve Oregon Health Plan clients.

May 21, 2009