The Lund Report

Personalized Medicine – Can Its Full Benefits Be Realized If We Continue To Have Access Problems?‎ Rachel Monahan Mon, 06/23/2014 - 19:39

Much is being penned about the potential of personalized medicine and its promise of ‎better care for ‎individuals, according to this contributor.

OPINION -- Personalized healthcare is made possible in part by the ability of the healthcare ‎provider infrastructure ‎to work in tandem with an individual in a patient-centered cross-‎collaborative team model.

State Fixes Funding Problem for Poor Women’s Contraceptive Care

The Affordable Care Act expanded the state Medicaid program to 350,000 new members, but it didn’t pay providers as well as a separate reproductive health program for uninsured women, provoking concerns from Rep. Mitch Greenlick that the state may be inadvertently hurting Planned Parenthood and other women’s health providers.

Jun 20, 2014

Insurance Division Begins Process to Better Regulate Provider Networks

A chief goal of the division is to create more transparency for consumers shopping on Cover Oregon or elsewhere to ensure they know what physicians and services they’ll be getting before they pick a health plan. The division also wants to give clear guidelines to insurers for compliance.

Jun 20, 2014

Bruce Goldberg Is Alive and Well

The former director of the Oregon Health Authority says he's taking life easy and any rumors about his succession plan are unfounded.

Jun 19, 2014

State Review Board Delays Decision on Hep C Coverage Until August Rachel Monahan Thu, 06/19/2014 - 09:54

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases recommends that Sovaldi be used with patients with late-stage liver disease, but state bureaucrats were ready to block coverage for all patients because of the high price tag of the drug and a report from OHSU’s Center for Evidence-Based Policy that raised red flags about the drug’s studies, helping the state in its attempt to get out of paying for treatment.

A governmental body that meets in Tualatin to determine coverage for Medicaid has deferred a decision on whether the state will require coordinated care organizations to cover pricey drugs that have the promise of curing Hepatitis C.