Nick Budnick

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SHUTTERSTOCK

Oregon Medical Board should improve equity in doctor discipline, audit says

Medical board leadership agreed with recommendations to expand use of disciplinary guidelines and regular reviews to combat racism and ensure consistency

Jan 24, 2024
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CareOregon. | COURTESY OF CAREOREGON

Updated: CareOregon merger decision delayed over state 'concerns'

Ruling now slated for March 18 after being delayed twice this month. Merger would join government-funded insurer of 500,000 low-income Oregonians with California nonprofit Medicare plan.

Jan 17, 2024

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CareOregon is among 16 coordinated care organizations in Oregon serving Medicaid members. | LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

Analysis: Six things to know about the big CareOregon merger

Supporters and opponents of the combination of an Oregon health care mainstay with a California-based Medicare insurer have publicly sparred for months, but significant aspects of the deal remain little-recognized, unsettled or unknown

Jan 16, 2024

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Providence Portland Medical Center. | M.O. STEVENS/CC BY 3.0/WIKIMEDIA

Providence reaches deal with Regence to avert coverage interruptions

Contract disputes between insurers and hospital systems have increasingly gone public in Oregon and across the country, sparking concerns.

Jan 15, 2024

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Patrick Allen. | COPYRIGHTED IMAGE REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE PORTLAND TRIBUNE

CareOregon merger draws opposition from former top Oregon health official

On the eve of a key state recommendation, Patrick Allen, the Oregon Health Authority's former director, said he hasn't seen a 'compelling argument' that Oregonians' interests are served by CareOregon's proposed merger into a California-based entity. The nonprofit Portland-based insurer oversees care for 500,000 low-income members of the Oregon Health Plan.

Jan 12, 2024

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CareOregon. | COURTESY OF CAREOREGON

Q&A: CEOs defend CareOregon merger plans, balk at specifics

Leaders of a California-based Medicare Advantage plan called SCAN Group and CareOregon, the Portland-based insurer that oversees government-funded care for 500,000 low-income Oregonians, said criticisms of their proposed merger don't recognize its benefits or the risks of inaction. The companies haven't disclosed long-term plans due to antitrust rules, they said — but growth is the goal.

Jan 9, 2024

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Gov. Tina Kotek speaks at the signing of the health care staffing bill on Aug. 15, 2023 at the Capitol in Salem, Ore. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Oregon care organizations invest $25 million in youth behavioral health

New spending on projects around the state resulted from pressure from Gov. Kotek after large profits garnered during the pandemic drew attention

Jan 4, 2024
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Portland, Oregon. | SHUTTERSTOCK

Even without a pandemic, health care was wild in 2023

It was a year in which the health care community had hoped to recuperate. Instead, Oregon and southwest Washington saw major changes affecting workers, patients, insurers, state officials and health systems.

Dec 21, 2023

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LYNNE TERRY/THE LUND REPORT

Legacy Health employees are unionizing at blinding speed

More groups of employees across the eight-hospital system are moving to join unions even as their management talks to OHSU about potentially being absorbed

Dec 12, 2023
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A patient room at the OHSU Center for Women's Health | COURTESY OF OHSU

OHSU privatizing fertility services as San Francisco company opens clinic in Portland

OHSU will lay off some employees and 'lease’ physicians to Spring Fertility when the private equity—backed firm opens a new facility in Northwest Portland, potentially meaning a smaller waitlist for would-be parents

Dec 12, 2023
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