Ore. Governor proposes 'coordinated care organizations' to reform state's Medicaid program

Jan 18 2012

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is proposing to change the state's iteration of Medicaid by ending its fee-for-service model and instituting "coordinated care organizations" to manage patients' chronic care to keep them out of hospital rooms.

The Associated Press/(Eugene, Ore.) Register Guard: Governor Pitches Health, Education Overhauls
[Ore. Gov. John] Kitzhaber also pitched his proposal to change the Oregon Health Plan -; the state's version of Medicaid for low-income patients -; from a fee-for-service model to one that rewards doctors who keep their patients healthy. Kitzhaber is asking the Legislature to approve the creation of "coordinated care organizations" that would that would be responsible for eliminating wasteful and duplicative health care and effectively managing chronic diseases to keep patients out of costly hospital rooms (Cooper, 1/14). 

The Oregonian: Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber Gets Standing Ovation, But Not Everyone Is Happy With State Of The State
Oregon's health reforms have drawn attention from the Obama Administration as a possible model for national changes. Kitzhaber said he was in Washington D.C. earlier this week and asked officials from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to support Oregon changes by providing "several hundred million dollars over the next several years." "The response was extraordinarily positive," he said. ... Kitzhaber also drew protest from in-home health care workers who passed out leaflets outside. ... AARP Oregon also has radio spots and print ads decrying cuts to programs serving seniors and the physically disabled (Cole, 1/13). 

(Salem, Ore.) Statesman-Journal: Education, Health Care Top Agenda
Gov. John Kitzhaber said Friday that lawmakers in their February session should take the next steps toward his sweeping overhauls of public education and health care. ... "Our success to date has been in setting the stage for change; now comes the hard work of implementation," Kitzhaber said (Wong, 1/13).