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 April 2001 legislature braces for escalating drug costs Skyrocketing drug costs could consume the 2001 legislature when it struggles to fund the Oregon Health Plan. "It's hard for me to imagine the legislature won't do something about drugs," said Dr. John Santa, director of the Office of the Oregon Health Plan Policy and Research (OHPPR). A look at the numbers tells the story. In 1998, drug costs rose by 18.4% across the nation, accounting for $93.4 billion, said John Golenski, PhD, president of the Health Priorities Group. Golenski has convened a coalition of insurers, employers, labor groups, physicians, and senior groups to analyze the value of pharmaceuticals. The spending growth is concentrated in a few therapeutic categories - antihistamines, antidepressants, cholesterol reducers and anti-ulcerants - where drug costs increased 30% or $13.1 billion from 1993 to 1998, Golenski said. Stericycle criticized for refusing fetal waste Lois Backus says Planned Parenthood and other Portland-area providers of legal abortion were "up the creek" when Stericycle, the area's largest medical waste company, quit collecting fetal waste from local clinics last November. "They stopped accepting it with no warning," said Backus, executive director of Planned Parenthood. "A driver arrived one day and asked if any of the waste included fetal parts." When a staff member said yes, he refused to take the clinic's waste. "We have found an alternative for now, but it's frustrating," Backus said. "This tissue needs to be incinerated, and there are a limited number of incinerators approved for that purpose." Until November, Backus said, Stericycle had collected all the agency's medical waste, including fetal tissue. Then Illinois-based Stericycle, the country's largest medical waste company with services in 46 states, merged with Browning Ferris Industries, or BFI, another medical waste company. "The drivers at BFI were organized by the anti-choice movement in the mid-1990s. They succeeded in getting a clause in their labor contract that allows them to refuse to accept fetal waste. When the merger occurred, Stericycle adopted it." Advocates brew plans to increase beer and wine tax A proposal to raise taxes on beer and wine is brewing in Salem, with the goal of pumping more money into the state's troubled mental health system and public health programs. The powerful beer-and-wine industry will oppose any such effort, of course. But proponents say it's a legitimate funding source. A beer-and-wine tax hike makes sense because the tax has not changed since 1977 and is one of the lowest in the country, due to successful industry lobbying, said Gordon Foltz, policy manager for the Association of Oregon Counties, which is drafting the proposal along with the Coalition of Local Health Officials (CLHO) and county mental health program directors. Moreover, Foltz said, "We find in all of our social service systems that alcohol and drugs are always a factor - in abuse situations, in early childhood stuff, in the mental health system, certainly. (Funding these services) would be an appropriate use of (beer-and-wine tax) funds. We're trying to close what we consider to be gaps in critical services for the mentally ill. Since these services were moved out from the state to the communities, we're responsible for the care of these patients." Judge will rule on Newport affiliation Before Pacific Communications Health District ties the knot with Providence Health System, Lincoln County Judge Robert Huckleberry will hand down a decision. Michael Fraser, the health district's CEO, filed a petition for validation so the dissenters could be heard. He envisions the affiliation will become official July 1, as anticipated. "Nothing in this agreement is illegal. We've been extremely careful." However, Rose Jade, a Newport attorney, has filed a motion to dismiss the proceeding. She believes the Providence contract is beyond the health district's statutory authority. "They are commingling tax money with a religious organization and that violates a number of constitutional rights," said Jade, who objects to the loss of local control over hiring decisions and patient charges. "If Providence wanted to buy the hospital and take it off the tax rolls, there wouldn't be a church and state problem." She also believes Providence will refuse to provide services protected by state and federal laws that conflict with Roman Catholic ethical directives. Hospital may spend $500,000 on tobacco ballot measure The Oregon Assn. of Hospitals and Health Systems is going for broke. Despite an appeal before the Supreme Court, the hospitals are determined to place their measure on the November ballot, locking the $2.2 billion tobacco settlement in a trust fund dedicated to the Oregon Health Plan. OAHHS officials are willing to spend $500,000 - $200,000 more than anticipated to gather signatures. Human rights advocate Ellen Lowe stands in their way. She favors using the entire tobacco settlement, rather than the interest from the trust fund, and wants dollars spent on tobacco education and cessation. Lowe concedes health officials are wary of having $2.2 billion at their disposal because they fear lawmakers will use the money for education or prisons. Meanwhile, the wait continues while the Supreme Court deliberates on the ballot challenge title. Lowe feels vindicated by the court, which found the ballot title confusing and misleading. "Obviously, they didn't consider my challenge one of mischief, but one of substance," she said. 1999 earnings of top corporate executives (figures include bonus pay) This information comes from the financial reports filed by the insurance companies with the Insurance Division and is considered public record.
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