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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 2016)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Wednesday, September 7, 2016 Lawmaker wants all CCOs to be nonproits Walla Walla EUGENE — State and federal regulators aren’t concerned that the owners of a private Eugene company that managed health services for needy Lane County residents reaped millions in proits last year when they sold the company to a large, out-of- state corporation. But some Oregon legislators are. “I don’t believe we should have investor-owned corpora- tions doing (coordinated care organizations),” said Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, chairman of the House Health Committee. “They should all be nonproit organizations, and they shouldn’t be able to be sold that way.” CCOs — either for-proit or nonproit — manage health services for patients covered by the Oregon Health Plan. The Oregon Health Plan is Oregon’s version of Medicaid, the taxpay- er-funded health plan for low-in- come and disabled U.S. citizens. The CCO in Lane County is Trillium Community Health Plan, and last year its parent company, Agate Resources, sold itself to Missouri-based Centene Corp., creating a windfall for Agate shareholders. Greenlick wants to protect taxpayer money and prevent such a sale from happening again. So he plans to reintroduce police investigate three OD deaths “We shouldn’t have those millions of dollars going to stockholders that are basically state money.” By SHERRI BURI MCDONALD The Register-Guard — Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, chairman of the House Health Committee a bill that he withdrew earlier this year that would require all Oregon CCOs to be nonproit corporations by 2024. The bill also would require CCOs’ hefty reserves to be kept in a special escrow fund at the Oregon Treasury. The state requires CCOs to keep large reserves to guard against risks, including higher-than-projected claims. “We shouldn’t have those millions of dollars going to stockholders that are basically state money,” Greenlick said. It remains to be seen whether Greenlick and his allies can muster enough political support to radically change course for Oregon’s CCOs. But Greenlick insists it must be done. “The problem is we structured (CCOs) the wrong way,” he said. The Legislature in 2011 was under pressure to pass the bill that created the CCOs to receive a $1.9 billion advance from the federal government to establish a new way of managing care for Oregon Health Plan patients, Greenlick said. Because of the need for compromise, “we left a lot of ambiguity in the statute,” he said. Greenlick said he has asked the nine-member Oregon Health Policy Board, which oversees the Oregon Health Authority, to make recommendations about CCOs. “They’ve agreed to do that,” Greenlick said, adding that he has asked for a report by Jan. 1, with preliminary information in October. To gather information to help formulate those recommenda- tions, the Oregon Health Policy Board will hold community meetings this month and next in Bend, Tillamook, Medford, Eugene, Hermiston and Portland. Launched in 2012, CCOs set out to improve the health of Oregon Health Plan patients at lower cost through more preven- tive care, better coordination of services and inancial rewards to providers who help their patients stay well. A CCO enrolls patients and the state gives the CCO an amount per patient per month to cover physical, mental, dental and behavioral health services, plus run the CCO and make a proit. The state monitors CCOs’ inances, capacity to enroll additional patients and service quality, Oregon Health Authority oficials said. By SHEILA HAGAR Walla Walla Union-Bulletin Overall, Oregon’s CCOs appear to be functioning as intended, said Neal Wallace, a Portland State University public administration professor. “They’re providing reason- ably good services,” he said. “They’re managing to do that within the budget they have.” But Greenlick has put his inger on the tension in Oregon about how CCOs should be structured and monitored, Wallace said. “He’s responding to a real issue,” Wallace said. “It’s some- thing that has to be paid attention to. “The state has to look at this and ask, ‘What are we doing here?’?” he said. “How do we want CCOs to run, and how do we protect our interest?” That could mean restricting the corporate forms of CCOs, Wallace said. “There’s an array of creative solutions as long as you’ve got your eyeball on what you’re trying to prevent,” Wallace said. Allowing investors to put private money into CCOs “could be a good thing,” he said. “But it needs to be controlled in a way that they can’t just suck proits out of the CCO.” Oficials are awaiting lab tests to determine causes of three deaths attributed to drug over- doses last week, according to the Walla Walla Police Department. “While lab results are pending, it is highly likely the deaths were caused from injecting heroin that was either laced with another powerful depressant, or was in a very pure form,” police spokesman Tim Bennett said in a news release. Without toxicology reports, oficials cannot be completely certain what caused the over- doses, but heroin laced with fentanyl has been seen in past Walla Walla area deaths, Detective Matt Wood said Tuesday. The irst of the three overdoses was the death of Whitman College junior Josh Fishman on Wednesday. Walla Walla County Coroner Richard Greenwood said this morning Fishman, 20, had a history of prescription drug abuse before attending Whitman last year. The campus newspaper reported Fishman was from New Jersey and over the summer had worked as a surgical intern at Baylor College of Medicine. At Whitman, he had been taking pre-med and sociology courses. The other two deaths were reported Friday. Oficials as of this morning had not released their identities pending notiication of family. One was a 20-year-old male who was found dead at Koncrete Industries, 502 N. 13th Ave., at about 1:30 p.m. near the warehouse. He was found with a drug kit containing a syringe nearby, Greenwood said. Employees at Koncrete Industries had seen the man walking around and eventually lying down on the ground. The spot attracts people living in homelessness and it is not unusual for people to sit on the nearby railroad tracks or take naps in the immediate area, noted one employee, who declined to give his name. The employee estimated the victim had been on the ground about 20 minutes before he was discovered to be dead. The second death Friday was a 68-year-old Milton-Freewater woman who was found unconscious from drug use and resuscitated, then taken to Providence St. Mary Medical Center where she later died, Greenwood said Tuesday. Autopsies for the Walla Walla man and Milton-Freewater woman were planned for Tuesday. State agency that accredits pot labs on verge of ‘collapse’ SALEM (AP) — As Oregon oficials struggle to license all sectors of the recreational mari- juana industry before the end of the year, a top oficial of the agency that accredits labs that test pot says it is overwhelmed — a situation that could derail the rollout. Gary K. Ward, administrator of the Oregon Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, emailed dozens of labs awaiting licenses, saying his agency’s abilities to accredit them is “on the precipice of collapse ... because of the lack of resources and the last minute rush of cannabis labs with appli- cations.” He said in his Aug. 26 email that he had asked for three full-time employees to handle cannabis testing lab accredita- tion, and received none. Only three labs have been The Oregon Department of Revenue reported that as of July 31, it has processed $25.5 million in marijuana tax payments this year. New rules require testing by an accredited lab. “The tax revenue will go from that to zero if we have no product to sell,” Morse said. Medical marijuana dispensa- ries are selling to both patients and so-called recreational users, but after the end of this year they won’t be allowed to sell to recreational users. Retail shops will sell to them, but only products that have been tested by accredited labs for pesticides and other impurities, and for potency. Medical marijuana is required to be tested but the labs previously did not need to be accredited. Jeremy Sackett, co-founder of Cascadia Labs, said he is accredited to test cannabis by Ward’s agency, known as ORELAP. If labs aren’t accredited, then marijuana growers and extractors won’t be able to have products tested to be put on the market — which Oregon voters legalized in a November 2014 ballot measure — and retailers will have bare shelves. Many retailers are also awaiting licenses from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. “This has been extremely worrisome for the industry,” Donald Morse, director of the Oregon Cannabis Business Council, said in a phone inter- view with The Associated Press. “I have spoken with people in all agencies ... and we’ve warned them for months this bottleneck was coming because of their inability get these accreditations done.” awaiting accreditation and that an inspection by ORELAP is scheduled for next week. The company has one lab in the Port- land area and another in Bend. “It would be unfortunate if the State were not able to support and effectively implement the well-developed regulations that have been enacted,” Sackett told AP in an email. The Oregon Health Authority, which oversees ORELAP, said Tuesday in response to Ward’s warning that it is committed to taking steps to ensure environmental laboratory accreditation “even with growing demand.” “Labs play a critical role in ensuring public health and OHA will ind a solution to the challenges that the short-term increase in cannabis testing lab requests has caused,” the health authority said. Didn’t receive your paper? Call 1-800-522-0255 before noon Tuesday through Friday or before 10 a.m. Saturday for same-day redelivery 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. 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Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday Copyright © 2016, EO Media Group REGIONAL CITIES Forecast THURSDAY TODAY Pleasant and warmer Mostly sunny 75° 53° 76° 44° FRIDAY SATURDAY Mostly sunny and pleasant Plenty of sunshine Sunny and beautiful PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 78° 51° 88° 55° 74° 44° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 80° 56° 80° 42° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 60° 82° 102° (1955) 53° 53° 34° (1898) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.33" 0.35" 0.09" 7.74" 5.66" 8.51" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH Yesterday Normals Records LOW 67° 82° 99° (2003) 56° 52° 39° (1961) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.36" 0.41" 0.07" 5.40" 3.43" 6.22" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today First Full Sep 9 Sep 16 6:24 a.m. 7:21 p.m. 12:32 p.m. 10:42 p.m. Last New Sep 23 89° 58° 78° 42° Seattle 69/56 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 80° 44° Sep 30 Today SUNDAY Spokane Wenatchee 69/48 76/52 Tacoma Moses 69/52 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 77/49 69/47 64/55 70/50 79/46 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 69/54 76/55 Lewiston 80/52 Astoria 76/54 68/56 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 73/57 Pendleton 70/42 The Dalles 80/56 75/53 78/55 La Grande Salem 73/44 76/51 Albany Corvallis 77/49 76/50 John Day 76/48 Ontario Eugene Bend 77/50 77/47 74/39 Caldwell Burns 76/46 74/35 Astoria Baker City Bend Brookings Burns Enterprise Eugene Heppner Hermiston John Day Klamath Falls La Grande Meacham Medford Newport North Bend Ontario Pasco Pendleton Portland Redmond Salem Spokane Ukiah Vancouver Walla Walla Yakima Hi 68 72 74 69 74 70 77 75 80 76 78 73 70 85 63 67 77 79 75 73 77 76 69 71 71 76 79 Lo 56 36 39 52 35 42 47 48 56 48 38 44 42 52 50 52 50 51 53 57 38 51 48 40 55 55 46 W pc s s s s s pc s s s s s s s pc pc s pc s pc s pc pc s pc s pc Hi 69 74 76 72 77 70 79 74 80 77 80 74 69 88 63 67 80 80 76 73 77 77 70 70 73 76 79 Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Lo 63 79 64 59 52 57 56 63 66 57 79 W s t s pc t c s t pc pc r Lo 52 30 40 53 30 37 44 39 42 43 39 34 33 50 47 49 46 42 44 50 34 47 44 36 47 49 42 W pc pc s pc s pc pc s s s s pc pc s pc pc s s s pc s pc pc s pc pc s Lo 62 81 67 59 47 48 52 64 65 57 75 W s t s s pc c s t pc s r WINDS Medford 85/52 (in mph) Klamath Falls 78/38 Boardman Pendleton REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Clouds and sun today. A passing shower across the north tonight. Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly sunny and nice today; warmer. Clear tonight. Mostly sunny and nice tomorrow. Western Washington: Clouds breaking today with a stray shower in the afternoon. Eastern Washington: Times of sun and clouds today. Partly cloudy tonight. Partly sunny tomorrow. Cascades: Partly sunny and warmer today. Clear to partly cloudy tonight. Mostly sunny tomorrow. Northern California: Patchy low clouds early today, then mostly sunny; pleasant at the coast. Today Thursday WSW 6-12 WSW 7-14 WSW 6-12 WSW 7-14 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. 1 3 5 5 3 COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. Thu. Hi 90 87 82 73 74 64 80 81 83 72 85 NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 • fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers in at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Thu. WORLD CITIES Hi 89 86 81 83 74 63 82 82 85 71 84 Classiied & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classiieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com Advertising Director: 541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com Advertising Services: Laura Jensen 541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Terri Briggs 541-278-2678 • tbriggs@eastoregonian.com • Amanda Jacobs 541-278-2683 • ajacobs@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Chris McClellan 541-966-0827 • cmcclellan@eastoregonian.com • Stephanie Newsom 541-278-2687 • snewsom@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — Corrections The East Oregonian misreported the inal score of Friday’s Hermiston High School foot- ball game in three photo captions in Saturday’s paper. Hermiston lost 36-27 to Union (WA). The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. 1 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 0-2, Low 3-5, Moderate 6-7, High; 8-10, Very High; 11+, Extreme The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num- ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016 -10s -0s showers t-storms 0s 10s rain 20s flurries 30s 40s snow ice 50s 60s cold front 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low National Summary: Strong thunderstorms will stretch from Kansas to Iowa and Wisconsin today. Flooding rain will hit eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. Mainly dry condi- tions will prevail elsewhere across the country. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 101° in McAllen, Texas Low 20° in Bodie State Park, Calif. NATIONAL CITIES Today Albuquerque Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Chicago Cleveland Dallas Denver Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Fargo Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Los Angeles Hi 76 93 83 89 73 94 75 76 93 91 89 92 94 85 92 82 52 74 88 94 91 91 90 99 93 81 Lo 58 71 72 71 48 70 51 67 70 69 74 76 77 54 76 66 32 54 77 76 75 65 71 76 78 64 W t s sh s pc s s sh s s pc pc pc s pc t c t pc t s s t s s pc Thur. Hi 84 93 87 95 74 94 76 80 94 92 85 90 96 87 86 84 57 75 88 94 85 92 86 98 95 78 Lo 58 72 75 74 47 71 46 71 70 70 66 68 75 52 65 66 33 55 75 76 73 66 70 75 77 64 W t s s s pc s s pc s pc pc t pc pc t pc s pc pc t pc s t s pc pc Today Louisville Memphis Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York City Oklahoma City Omaha Philadelphia Phoenix Portland, ME Providence Raleigh Rapid City Reno Sacramento St. Louis Salt Lake City San Diego San Francisco Seattle Tucson Washington, DC Wichita Hi 94 95 89 87 74 95 91 84 92 83 89 95 77 81 93 74 87 96 95 84 73 77 69 79 91 89 Lo 75 77 78 72 62 70 76 73 76 65 72 75 63 68 72 46 54 61 79 58 67 59 56 67 77 73 W s s pc t t s pc pc pc t s t c sh s pc s s pc s pc s pc r s t Thur. Hi 90 94 88 84 75 94 91 89 92 82 94 96 79 83 95 81 89 90 88 83 74 74 69 89 97 88 Lo 76 76 77 63 60 72 77 78 74 66 79 78 63 70 73 50 54 57 75 55 66 57 51 70 78 72 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W pc pc pc pc s pc t s pc pc s pc c pc s s s s t s pc pc pc pc s t
