Interview: Gov. John Kitzhaber on Oregon’s $1.9 billion Medicaid experiment
In The Washington Post Sarah Kliff has published an interview with Oregon's governor: Oregon is in the middle of a multibillion-dollar Medicaid experiment. It has promised the Obama administration it can slow the program’s growth to a rate comparable to the rest of...
Portland City Council Schedules Vote on Water Fluoridation
On September 6th, the Portland City Council will hold a hearing about whether to fluoridate the city's drinking water, with a vote currently scheduled for September 12th. You have a chance to learn, weigh in and have your voice heard, whether you get to speak at the...
Input Requested on Draft Medical Liability Legislation
Senate Bill 1580 (passed in February 2012) directed the Governor to establish the Patient Safety and Defensive Medicine (PSDM) Workgroup to recommend a medical liability legislative proposal for the 2013 Legislative session. The Workgroup’s efforts are guided with the...
Insurance Exchange Seeks Input on How Many Plans is Enough/Too Many
This fall, the Oregon Health Insurance Exchange will release the application insurance companies must complete in order to sell plans through the Exchange. The Exchange has been working with insurance companies, business organizations, and consumers to develop the...
Universal Healthcare: Is it Impossible in the US?
Clara Lynham, WCDB member, sent this post to us via email: Is Universal Healthcare really Impossible in the United States? Time and time again, American people are told that universal health care does not work. Pointing to health care systems in the UK and...
The Triple Aim – Where Do We Go From Here?
Lurelle Robbins is a member of our Community Leadership Council. I had the opportunity to spend 6 hours at OHSU yesterday in an Immersion Program for Legislators and Legislative Candidates as a guest of Wynne Wakkila, candidate in HD 26. I was impressed by the whole...
For the sickest patients, Medicare tests home-based primary care in Portland
Dr. Lara Garrett with Housecall Providers prepares to give a flu shot in this 2010 file photograph. Housecall Providers is one of 16 medical groups in the U.S. chosen to pilot a home-based primary care project for Medicare enrollees with multiple chronic health...
Supreme Court Decision Announcement Nears
The Supreme Court has made its decision on the Affordable Care Act, and the date is yet to be announced when it will be made public. This article from The Hill, lays out some possible options around decisions but the last paragraph is most pertinent, regardless of the...
When high-cost care adds no benefit
Two articles appeared over the weekend on the issue of cost and medical value. First, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D. wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times titled, "In Medicine, Falling for Fake Innovation." He writes that the federal health reform law will quash,...
Reports Offer New Data on Health Care Costs
The four articles introduced below should slake your thirst for updated health care cost data. Individual Health Policies Fall Short, a Study Finds First, A study published online Wednesday in Health Affairs was summarized in The New York TImes by Reed Abelson: More...
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