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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 25, 2015)
PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER SPECIAL SECTION Health, Wellness and Nutrition Oregon Sen. Ron wyden, top left, toured Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel last Friday before sitting down to a discussion on expanding the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program. On hand to discuss the issues were, from left, Arthur Jaffe, M.d., board member of the Oregon Pediatric Society; to wyden’s left, George Brown, M.d.; Rachael Banks, Healthy Birth Initiative program director for Multnomah County; Legacy Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Newcomb; and African American Health Coalition President and CEO Corliss Mckeever. Hospitals keep Community Benefit Spending Jonathan J. Cooper Associated Press SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon hospitals won’t reduce spending on services that benefit the community, even though the facilities are spending far less on uncompensated charity care because more people are insured, an industry group Out-of-pocket costs will be paid for patients earning up to 200 percent of the fed- eral poverty level, or $48,500 for a family of four, it said. That includes people who have low-cost insur- ance plans with high deductibles and copays, Davidson said. The group said its total spending on community according to data from the Oregon Health Authority. Compliance is voluntary for individual hospitals, but Davidson said the guide- lines were thoroughly debated internally and he anticipates nearly all of Ore- gon’s 58 hospitals will participate. Sen. Alan Bates, D-Med- ford, and Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, wel- comed the announcement. Both are influential on health policy issues. “If they don’t do these things, then of course we start questioning why they’re tax-exempt,” Bates said. “I think they’re doing the right thing. I appreciate it and I applaud them for it.” Oregon hospitals will provide free care to low-income patients who are not on Medicaid said Tuesday. The need for charity care has dropped precipitously since President Barack Obama’s health care over- haul — the Affordable Care Act, or ACA — took effect. Only 5 percent of state resi- dents remain uninsured, compared to 14 percent before the ACA. “The ACA has been so successful, and the uptick happened so quickly that charity care has really dropped significantly,” said Andy Davidson, president of the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems. The association said Ore- gon hospitals will provide free care to low-income patients who are not on Medicaid. benefit services — which includes charity care, research, health screenings and medical education — will remain at historical lev- els. All but two of Oregon’s hospitals are nonprofit organizations, requiring them to benefit the commu- nity to retain their tax-exempt status. Charity care has historically been a significant portion of their community benefit portfo- lio. If charity care spending drops, the hospitals will make up for it with more spending on other public services, the group said. In 2013, hospitals collec- tively spent $405 million on charity care, about 4.5 per- cent of total revenue, March 25, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 7
