Aging

GUNDULA VOGEL/PIXABAY

Oregon reviews UnitedHealth deal for Amedisys home health, hospice

Deal for hospice and home health agencies in Roseburg, Salem and Portland has sparked a comprehensive review by state merger oversight officials, even as the federal government contemplates legal action

Jun 4, 2024
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U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden at a July 9, 2022 event in Portland. | PHOTO COPYRIGHT: PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP/PETER WONG (USED WITH PERMISSION)

Q&A: Ron Wyden says more Medicare reform needed

Senior Oregon Senator calls for more progress on marketing abuses, scrutiny of health care consolidation

Apr 3, 2024
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PacificSource headquarters is located in Springfield, Oregon. | COURTESY PHOTO

PacificSource lays off 29, will largely pull out of Washington

The Springfield, Oregon—based regional insurer says provider consolidation is making it harder to keep health care costs down — and challenging to expand its footprint. It will focus on its Oregon, Idaho and Montana markets instead.

Mar 28, 2024
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SHUTTERSTOCK

With glitches fixed, Oregon Health Plan eligibility checks to resume

After problems led to thousands of Oregonians incorrectly disenrolled, the state has made fixes, restored coverage and will soon resume eligibility checks that were on hold during the pandemic

Feb 22, 2024
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The Capitol Building in Salem. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Lawmakers want to scrap state approval needed for many new health care facilities

New psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care facilities must prove their services are needed, but critics and supporters disagree on the certification system’s effects

Feb 15, 2024
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Sterling Hanakahi, 73, and Anita Hanakahi, 70, of Tillamook say they were blindsided when Texas-based U.S. Renal Care executives announced they would close their kidney dialysis center in the coastal community Feb. 23. Anita has relied on the center for the past nine years. For her and 10 other local patients, she said, local dialysis treatment is a matter of life and death. | COURTESY OF ANITA HANAKAHI

Tillamook dialysis closure has patients fearing the worst

Sudden closure of rural Oregon facility by Texas firm leaves patients lacking options for crucial life-saving care

Feb 7, 2024

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