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 March Construction booms Oregon’s rapidly expanding waistlines grab plenty of headlines, but the Beaver state’s mushrooming hospital system rarely makes the news. Yet if every Oregonian packed on the pounds as quickly as hospitals added new towers, built cardiac catheter labs and constructed MRI facilities, the average Rose City resident would weigh about 500 pounds. In January 2003, Oregon Health News scoured state records to determine how much new construction was in the works between 1999 and 2002. Searching only for projects with a price tag over $250,000, we documented $386 million in expansion and renovation. Two years later, we stuck our nose in state records once again at the Facilities Planning and Safety Division. In calendar years 2003 and 2004, we documented $793 million in new construction. That’s twice as much in half the time. For the complete list of projects over $250,000, please click here. Lawmakers consider restoring Medicaid benefits It sounds like a Powerball jackpot, and with the way Oregon’s economy has been stumbling the last few years, it’s about as rare. After the March forecast predicted another $200 million next biennium, the wolves started circling the Capitol within minutes. Conventional wisdom is that every cent of the new money will end up in public schools. “Let’s face it, education’s going to get it all,” predicted Ken Rutledge, president of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. However, providers contend it’s essential they receive some of those dollars. “Although the full impact of the tax reduction is unclear, we’re concerned a reduction in the cap will further limit the number of Oregon Health Plan Standard patients,” said Terry Coplin, CEO of LIPA, an Oregon Health Plan provider. “Our community is already struggling to meet the challenges of a growing uninsured population in Lane County.” Senior docs outraged Doctors who work at Providence hospitals are outraged after receiving a confidential survey asking whether they’d consent to a routine medical exam when they reach a certain age. The survey was sent to 600 physicians in Portland – all of whom are over age 50 – from the credentials committee. Physicians fear a sinister motive is behind the survey, and are angered at the prospect of age-based discrimination. Survey catches heat Rumors are also running rampant Providence wants to have a closed panel and hire its own physicians. In Portland, Providence has 1,468 active physicians: 40 percent of whom are over age 50. Statewide, Providence employs 352 doctors among its 1,900 active staff members. Measuring Kitzhaber One can imagine Dr. John Kitzhaber as a boy at the local swimming pool. Undoubtedly, he was the adventurous one who did cannonballs off the high dive and sent waves careening into the shallow ends of the pool. He’s been out of the spotlight, but just wait. He’s about to make his biggest splash ever. Sources tell Oregon Health News the maverick former governor and author of the Oregon Health Plan will soon present Oregonians with a referendum for universal health care modeled on the public education system. Paging Dr. Baumeister Heralded Portland gastroenterologist Frank Baumeister may soon sound more like a lawyer than a physician. “Show me the evidence. Show me the evidence. Show me the evidence.” The Comptroller General of the United States named him to a prestigious working group charged with starting a national dialogue on health care. Baumeister is the only Oregonian on the 14-member work group, and 530 people from throughout the country submitted applications. A call to conscience The problems confronting mental health still plague the system – a shortage of subacute hospital beds, the high cost of psychiatric medications and the lack of community housing. But there’s a low cost way to help those suffering from emotional problems, according to Nancy Winters, who runs Multnomah County’s Mental Health and Addiction Services. The psychiatric community needs to step forward and every practitioner treat people who are uninsured or without mental health coverage. “We’re all in this business to take care of people,” she said. “In my mind, it’s the responsible thing to do. A number of psychiatrists in town do that, but it should be routine for everyone.” Un-associated TPA Running Associated Administrators should have been as easy as selling lemonade on a hot summer day. With more companies moving toward self-insurance, demand for third-party administrators is higher than ever. After five years of consecutive losses, however, the company, owned by Regence BlueCross BlueShield, is on the bidding block. “I’m not surprised,” said Tino Versoza, vice president of sales and Internet services at Get-Benefits, a competitor. “We’ve seen a lot of business moving away from them, especially over the past years.” No more free lunches Resort industry executives from Hawaii and Southern California may want to closely follow House Bill 2817. Whenever a medical professional is given a trip to an exotic locale or dinner at a five-star restaurant by a drug industry representative, such information would become public record, according to the measure sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Tomei (D–Milwaukie). “As a state representative, I have to file an ethics report every year letting the public know if I’ve been given any gifts,” she said. Why shouldn’t physicians also have to file one? Expanding King-dom As Picasso would say, “success is dangerous.” Just ask Howard “Rocky” King. As administrator of the Insurance Pool Governing Board, he remains a favorite of legislators. Last session, for example, lawmakers saddled him with the responsibility of crafting two insurance plans – one for children, the other for uninsured adults. They also expanded the role of the Family Health Insurance Assistance Program, which he runs. It’s too early to know how successful the plans will be (only Regence and Health Net offer them), but King’s done so well, he might be saddled with two new tasks. Also in this issue...
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