Debate heats up over biopharmaceuticals

A committee made of experts in agriculture, public health and science gets closer to proposing a state policy on biopharming, which uses genetically modified plants to create vaccines, antibodies and enzymes.

Now the politics have spread beyond the legislative body. Click on the longer, uncut version of the story that appeared in the newsletter.

Gearing up for a long-term struggle

The future of Oregon’s long-term care services is at stake as a proposal gathers momentum to begin handing over the reins to managed care plans. Consumer advocates, industry leaders and even politicians are weighing in, and the issue will likely reach the legislative chambers next session. “It’s a rip-roaring debate right now,” said Sen. Alan Bates (D—Ashland).

Under the proposal, managed care plans would administer long-term care services for the over-65 population on Medicare, Medicaid and the Oregon Health Plan, and would receive state and federal matching funds. A pilot project could get under way within the next 18 months. Similar models exist in Arizona, Wisconsin and Washington.

Parity talks open up one final time

Insurance representatives, mental health providers and consumer advocates will be among those clamoring to get in the last word when the Insurance Division holds its first and only public hearing on mental health parity June 26.

Most laud the division’s efforts to take such a detailed approach to the rule. From January to May, a broad group of more than 20 stakeholders hashed out their concerns on an almost bi-weekly basis. With so many competing interests at stake, however, the process seemed destined to ruffle at least a few feathers.

Petition politics

Two days before Democracy Resources threw in the towel on the tobacco tax initiative, the Portland-based signature-gathering firm delivered the same news to Rep. Mitch Greenlick (D—Portland). “I was very upset, as you can imagine.”

Thanks to an earlier start than the tobacco measure, Greenlick’s HOPE initiative may be able to regroup because additional funding is anticipated. HOPE paid Democracy Resources $109,228, according to campaign reports filed with the secretary of state’s office on May 4. Greenlick contracted with the firm to collect more than 60,000 signatures in the last four weeks.

Eye exams overlooked

At least 39 states have laws that either recommend or require vision screenings for children. Oregon isn’t among them.

Wayne Schumacher wants to change that. He’s proposing that Oregon mandate comprehensive eye exams for children entering kindergarten. Such exams could be done by an optometrist or ophthalmologist, as opposed to screenings typically done by a medical doctor or a school nurse.

Studies have shown a link between eye disorders and a child’s ability to learn successfully. And without the proper testing equipment, some conditions are unnoticeable, said Schumacher, executive director of the Oregon Optometric Physicians Association.

Hatfield questions tram

Senator Mark Hatfield has lost confidence in the tram under construction at the South Waterfront Central District. He shared his concerns when Oregon Health & Science University’s board met recently to approve the eighth and final amendment to the development agreements.

“I’m confused when I hear this is the last request, and I’m not sure if it would have been better had we gone west to property we already owned,” said the senator, referring to property in Washington County that had been under consideration. “I’m concerned about stable funding and what we’re giving up on the budget for the nursing and the medical schools. I’d like to know what we’re committed to.”

Hold the bacon

It was an insult of the worst kind to an Orthodox Jewish man who lay dying in a Portland nursing home. On his plate for breakfast was bacon and eggs. David Fuks had pleaded with Kaiser Permanente to send this elderly gentleman back to Robison Jewish Home where he had lived for the past five years after he was released from its hospital. But Robison no longer had a contract with Kaiser. So the answer was no.

“This man was dying,” said Fuks, MSW, chief executive officer of Cedar Sinai Park, which runs Robison. “To us it was odious and a spiritual insult to the first degree, and Kaiser didn’t get it.”

A numbers game

As the July 7 deadline for signature gathering nears, an initiative calling for higher ratios at nursing homes is coming down to the numbers. If implemented, the measure would almost double Oregon’s staffing requirement ratios for nursing assistants and establish strict guidelines for registered nurses, LPNs and CMAs.

But it’s a larger figure — an estimated $200 million — that has the initiative’s proponents and opponents up in arms. That’s the amount of money the state’s licensed nursing homes will garner in increased revenue over four years from a provider tax currently slated to end June 30, 2008. Oregonians for Nursing Home Safety, the ballot’s chief supporter, believes nursing homes have stuffed their pockets but have not improved patient care. The coalition is financed primarily by the Service Employees International Union.

Mandates? Yes, sir

After spending two decades on Oregon health care issues, Vickie Gates — the first administrator of the Oregon Office of Health Policy and Research and now a consultant — couldn’t help but laugh.

Once again, perpetual brainstorming on ways to insure all Oregonians led to a conclusion health care leaders have heard before: insurance mandates of some kind are needed to achieve universal coverage.

“We can continue to look at a voluntary solution or see if it makes sense to have some responsibility on the part of individuals,” Gates, who sits on the Health Policy Commission, told her colleagues. “We have a decade of experimentation that says it makes a lot of sense.”

Dentists vie for contracts

The waiting game drags on for Ted Van Eerden, who has been trying to gain status as a dental care contractor for the past four years. During that span, Dental Care Today, which he manages, has cleaned and polished the teeth of 20,000 Oregon Health Plan members. But those people all belong to different dental care organizations, which siphon off the administrative dollars. ”I’ve been locked out of front row status, and feel like I’m dealing with a state-sanctioned oligopoly,” he told legislators recently. The ODS Companies, Capitol Dental Care, Managed Dental Care of Oregon and Hayden Family Dentistry send patients his way.

The state Medicaid agency could change the dynamics by opening the bidding process to new dental organizations, said Lynn Read, deputy director. But wouldn’t that mean Dental Care Today would merely get a bigger slice of the revenue because they’d still take care of the same patients? asked Rep. Dennis Richardson (R—Central Point), during a legislative hearing.

Also in this issue...

• Setting the PACE
  
• Blast raises red flag
  
• Schrader beams in
  
• VA cleans its hands
  
• Union talks stalled
  

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