Health Care Reform In Oregon Gets $1.9 Billion From U.S. For Poor Residents

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) secured $1.9 billion in funding from President Barack Obama's administration for a program designed to save money and improve health care for the poor.

Oregon may have found a way to improve the health care it provides poor residents while saving money. The federal government has agreed to give the state $1.9 billion to try it out.

The roughly 600,000 people enrolled in the state's Medicaid program, called the Oregon Health Plan, will gain access to "coordinated care organizations" designed to help patients maintain their health and stay on top of treatments for chronic medical conditions.

If it works, Oregon will save $11 billion over 10 years, Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement today. "Oregon is on the right track to create a system that will both improve care and reduce costs," Kitzhaber said in the statement. Medicaid is jointly financed by the federal government and states, which administer the programs.

Holding down Medicaid spending has been a huge challenge for states, especially since the recession began in 2007. Medicaid accounts for 23.6 percent of state budgets, more than they spend on education or any other area, according to the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.

The economic downturn has made matters worse as people lost jobs and became eligible for Medicaid benefits. States have responded by slashing fees to medical providers, eliminating optional benefits like vision and dental coverage, and dropping beneficiaries. Pennsylvania recently removed almost 90,000 children from Medicaid while Hawaii struck 3,500 adults off its rolls.

Oregon's initiative aligns with the aims of President Barack Obama's health care reform law. The federal statute, now under appeal in the Supreme Court, includes provisions designed to coordinate care between doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers for people with chronic medical conditions.

People with the worst health and with chronic diseases like diabetes, who account for a hugely disportionate share of health care costs, get special attention, according to the Statesman Journal of Salem, Ore. The program would provide patients with assistance they don't currently get, such as caseworkers who will help set up doctor's appointments and make sure patients stay on the drugs their physicians prescribe, according to the Associated Press.

Oregon would have been forced to cut payments to medical providers and state's budget would have blown up without the agreement with federal authorities, Kitzhaber told the Oregonian. Instead, the state will receive $620 million during the fiscal year that begins July 1. The remaining funds will be parsed out during the four following years. Kitzhaber visited Washington this week to finalize the deal, the newspaper reported.

Comments

[Ken Lyn]

09:20 PM on 05/10/2012

President Obama’s healthcare reform could change how business is conducted by physicians which could probably mean the end of full-time, independent private practitioners. A survey conducted by The Physicians Foundation predicts that physicians will become employees in organizations, probably do part-time work, or work as administrators or leave the field of healthcare altogether. In fact, it appeared that most physicians will probably consolidate with other practices, or join hospitals or hospital and health systems for utilizing capital, technical, and administrative resources. The national survey of 2,400 physicians noted that only 26 percent of them would continue practicing the way they did for the next few years. The remaining 74 percent would retire, work part-time, close practice to new patients, and/or look for non-clinical jobs. The survey found that a majority of physicians felt that the healthcare reform would translate into decreased revenue and increased patient volume. Physician shortage will worsen with demand to care for more patients with higher quality of care and less cost. In the next 15 years, America could face a shortage of 150,000 physicians. There is more on this at http://www.newsonhealthcare.com/preparing-for-socialized-health-caresome-patients-may-die-waiting-for-treatment/

[Roadrun]

09:40 PM on 05/05/2012

They can get in touch with some states in the northeast and compare notes. Vermont and Oregon can discuss ideas and both probably vault the programs forward quickly.

Good on you Oregon!

That's setting yet another example.

[K August]

09:39 PM on 05/05/2012

Our Gov was an Emergency room Doctor. If anyone cares about people, he does.

[nwlover]

05:41 PM on 05/04/2012

Oregon also votes totally by mail, and was the first state to pass the Death with Dignity law, allowing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. I'm very proud to live in this forward- thinking state. P.S. It's beautiful, too.

[MoonBeamsWatcher]

09:21 PM on 05/07/2012

"physician-assisted suicide" WoW . . . easy to see why Ore-gone needs
all them MENTAL HEALTH DOLLARS from my taxes!

[nwlover]

11:53 AM on 05/08/2012

And you wish to see people suffer in endless pain when there is no cure because ---?

[nwlover]

07:04 PM on 05/08/2012

And your desire to see terminally ill patients suffer is because ???

[Anne Rutherford]

02:35 PM on 05/04/2012

Medicaid is a federal/state partnership to provide heatlhcare to those who are disabled and destitute. This is a demonstration project - and hopefully, it will be a successful one that can then be replicated and help control costs associated with out-of-control chronic disease. Along the way, the patient gets an education and maybe starts to take control of their life. Certainly a better option that what currently happens.

[MoonBeamsWatcher]

09:23 PM on 05/07/2012

physician-assisted suicide
should help keep them pesky medical costs in line!

[Cygnus1]

12:48 PM on 05/04/2012

Nice to hear the fed giving money to help out Americans in need as well as foreign countries. We need to do this more often.

[kdraper]

09:53 AM on 05/04/2012

Great move by an impressive Governor of an impressive State!

[mathamgri]

09:42 AM on 05/04/2012

Makes me proud to live in Oregon.

[Longtimeliberal]

07:41 AM on 05/04/2012

This is what was supposed to happen!

[Kate McCloud]

03:51 AM on 05/04/2012

I already bought a small lot in Oregon.
When the cancer diagnosis arrives, I throw up a small modular bungalow and move there for some death with dignity.
If Oregon makes this work, it may be the new Florida. Old peeps will move there to die.

[bave]

09:05 AM on 05/04/2012

Classic liberal.

I will wait until the last second then move somewhere I can hand the bill to someone else.

L O L

[mathamgri]

09:37 AM on 05/04/2012

Classy liberals are always welcome in Oregon.

[Raccoon1]

11:08 AM on 05/04/2012

It's not that easy to get in the program. A person has to be nearly destitute.

[unfoxworthy]

12:16 AM on 05/04/2012

Bold move by the Governor.
It is sad that the Federal Government (representing the 1%) perpetuates the level of income inequality that requires us to implement band-aids in lieu of true health care reform.
I hope programs like this one DO spawn true reform.

[Six Mill]

07:49 AM on 05/04/2012

where does it say anywhere you are entitled to health care or a job or a living? certainly not in this country. Fine by me -- I'm already successful. your problems are your own

[Roelvdwegen]

08:35 AM on 05/04/2012

Has something to do with human dignity.

A Greek man shot himself to death because he had gotten so poor he would have to start searching trash bins for food, he could not stand the indignity.

[mathamgri]

09:40 AM on 05/04/2012

Well, it doesn't. But it should. I suppose I'm financially successful, but what fun is having money when others are suffering?

[mazzo]

10:51 PM on 05/03/2012

Good for you Oregon!

[VikingQuest]

08:45 PM on 05/03/2012

"The roughly 600,000 people enrolled in the state's Medicaid program, called the Oregon Health Plan, will gain access to "coordinated care organizations" designed to help patients maintain their health and stay on top of treatments for chronic medical conditions."

I clicked on the link and didn't see any real retails on what "coordinated care organizations" actually are and where these savings will come from.

[ntrudr1400]

12:16 AM on 05/04/2012

The reason why the US is the worst in health care costs is because unlike most modern nations our health care is not geared towards prevention, but towards care. Oregon's plan is to help the people both in prevention and early treatment. Doing so will allow them to save huge amounts. Lot's of costly diseases caught early can be both treated and life style changed of patient resulting in less drugs, less Dr. visits, less hospital visits, and less money spent.

[Cold in Michigan]

01:42 AM on 05/04/2012

Think of it as a sort of 'one stop shopping mall'. You are assigned a primary doctor..or rather a clinic...and all your medical needs are met there. The labs, doctors, medical history all in one place. It eliminates duplicate testing and keeps sick kids out of emergency rooms..saving money. It also has the advantage of being small enough to offer classes on nutition and the like to patients that need it and no longer do you have to wait for a tw'o month appointment to check your blood pressure. If more extensive care is needed you will be referred 'off site'. But the majority of a persons care can be taken care of a lot cheaper than a trip to emergecy.

[goforitlisa]

07:44 PM on 05/03/2012

Kudos to Oregon!

[T Trump]

06:46 PM on 05/03/2012

Governor Kitzhaber is a Emergency Room Doctor and has been working for years to help people get health care. This is his third term in Oregon.