October 2007

Study questions hospital exemptions

A recent report by Washington state’s Joint Legislative and Audit Review Committee sheds new light on an old question: Do non-profit hospitals deserve the millions of dollars in tax breaks and subsidies they receive each year? The committee, which found that Washington non-profit hospitals collectively enjoyed a $47 million property tax break in 2006-07, is asking the state to reconsider. The report claims that the state’s for-profit hospitals, which do pay property and income taxes, offer just as much, and in some instances more, charity care.

An investigation by Oregon Health News discovered similar results here in the Beaver State. Oregon’s 55 non-profit hospitals benefited from a property tax exemption of more than $35 million last year, according to information obtained from local county assessors. Its two for-profit facilities, meanwhile, offered similar amounts of free care.

Oregon’s oral health not necessarily something to smile about

By many measures, Oregon is among the worst states for dental health in the country. One of the key problems is access to care, given the very limited number of dentists and other dental professionals who provide care to Oregon Health Plan enrollees.

Only 13 percent of low-income children and teens up to age 18 have received preventive dental care in the past 12 months, while the national average is 31 percent, according to “The Burden of Oral Disease in Oregon,” a report published by the Oregon Department of Human Services Public Health Division.

The same report says that 69 percent of 15-year-olds and 56 percent of kids ages 6 to 8 in Oregon have tooth decay, compared to national averages of 59 percent and 50 percent, respectively. According to Oral Health America’s report card on oral health, Oregon gets a D in prevention and a C in dentist availability. OHP Plus enrollees get full dental benefits, but OHP Standard enrollees are eligible only for emergency care, not preventive measures such as cleanings or sealants.

Change doesn’t come easy with mental health system initiative

The provision of children’s mental health services, covering about 220,000 Oregon Health Plan enrollees, remains a highly charged issue as kids, families, schools, providers, mental health organizations and other stakeholders adjust to system changes that started two years ago with the Children’s Mental Health System Change Initiative.

Budget limitations and the role of mental health organizations are among many prevailing concerns in the current system. The change initiative relies on community-based services as an alternative to intensive residential and day treatment facilities. As a result, more children are living at home, and their parents and extended families are urged to be more involved in their care and treatment – an appealing approach that works for many kids, though not all.

On the Record with Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)

Universal health care has become a buzzword on Capitol Hill, especially for those with higher ambitions. But, according to Sen. Gordon Smith (R—OR), most of those plans are politically unrealistic. That’s why he’s proposing an incremental approach. Before the 110th Congress closes, Smith and an unnamed prominent Democratic senator plan to introduce a bill targeting small businesses. Smith said the bill has the potential to cover half of the country’s uninsured.

This is not the first time the Pendleton lawmaker has crossed the aisle for health care. Already this session, he’s worked with Sen. Ted Kennedy (D—MA) and others on topics ranging from mental health parity to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Excerpted below is a recent conversation Smith had with Oregon Health News Editor-in-Chief Tim Stumm. The complete transcript is available on our Web site, www.healthforum.org.

OHN: Can you share more details about this legislation?

GS: It creates a national solution to the problem of small businesses that lack access to affordable health coverage. More than half of the uninsured in this country are individuals that work in firms that employ over 100 people and don’t offer health insurance.

The bill would create a system of regional purchasing cooperatives that are administered by a national policy organization. Its structure would be similar to the Federal Reserve Board, and every state would be incentivized to join a regional purchasing cooperative or health coverage exchange as the bill defines them. Each region would be governed by its own stakeholder board, and that board would have responsibilities for negotiating policy options with private health plans. It would help in marketing products to small employers and allocating subsidies to low-income workers who need extra help in purchasing health coverage. The bill is essentially written. We are just looking for the most appropriate time to introduce it.

Sonography, ultrasound fields remain outside radiology board

A great deal of resignation and bewilderment remain over a failed Senate bill that would have required licensing in the sonography and ultrasound fields by the Oregon Board of Radiologic Technology, which would have been renamed the Board of Medical Imaging Technology.

Senate Bill 144, which was authored by the radiology board, breezed through the Senate during the last session and was making its way through the House when it was halted by the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers. Among other complaints, the national group told legislators that the Oregon radiology board had not contacted them in drafting SB 144 and that sonography and ultrasound would not be represented on the new board. Linda Russell, executive director of Oregon’s radiology board, said the national sonography registry doesn’t have an Oregon chapter and that her board held numerous local meetings to try to bring stakeholders to the table.

Also in this issue...

• Oregon, Washington differ on approaches to bird flu
• CMS challenges Indian health care legislation
• Lawmakers’ plans are limited for OHP Standard
  
• OHP contractors will see bump in rates for 2008
  

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