Eight new health care organizations are certified to begin serving local communities in Oregon on August 1, the Oregon Health Authority announced today. Under the new model, Oregon has agreed to reduce Medicaid inflation by 2 percentage points within two years by focusing on improving the health of clients to reduce unnecessary expenditures.
The new entities, called Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs), will provide care for Oregonians enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan/Medicaid. CCOs are the foundation of Oregon’s vision to improve care, achieve better health and lower costs. Under bi-partisan state legislation passed earlier year, the new CCOs will be able to deliver care in new ways. Key to CCOs will be the ability to coordinate mental and physical health care and focus on prevention. CCOs will also provide effective support to patients with chronic conditions, ensuring that they are taking appropriate medications and managing their appointments.
“I am proud of the way the Oregon health care community has come together to create a more patient-centered and sustainable health care system,” said Governor John Kitzhaber. “By eliminating the unnecessary and unhelpful elements of health care such as bureaucracy, duplicate testing, and preventable hospital visits, we can save billions of dollars and have a healthier population. We are on our way to fulfilling our vision for Oregon for a more effective, efficient health system.”
Under the new model, Oregon has agreed to reduce Medicaid inflation by 2 percentage points within two years by focusing on improving the health of clients to reduce unnecessary expenditures. The agreement calls for saving $11 billion over the next decade. Coordinated Care Organizations are an Oregon-based reform and are not affected by the pending Supreme Court ruling about the federal Accountable Care Act.
The eight certified CCOs are contracted to begin enrolling people August 1. The communities they will serve are listed below. This is the first wave of certification. Additional CCOs are expected to be certified and begin providing services later in the year.
AllCare Health Plan – All of Curry, Josephine, Jackson and part of Douglas counties
FamilyCare, Inc. – Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, and part of Marion County
Intercommunity Health Network Coordinated Care Organization – All of Benton, Lincoln and Linn counties
PacificSource Community Solutions, Inc. – All of Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson and part of Klamath counties
Trillium Community Health Plan – All of Lane County
Umpqua Health Alliance – Most of Douglas County
Western Oregon Advanced Health, LLC – All of Coos and Curry counties
Willamette Valley Community Health, LLC – All of Marion and most of Polk counties
Bruce Goldberg, M.D., director of the Oregon Health Authority, says that the creation of the new CCOs marks the beginning of historic changes to Oregon’s health care system. At the same time, as the new Coordinated Care Organizations are forming, clients will not see much of a change, especially at first. Oregon Health Plan benefits are not changing and services that are covered today will continue to be covered under Coordinated Care Organizations.
“Clients do not have to take any actions,” said Dr. Goldberg. “As CCOs get up and running there will be more opportunities for preventive care, education and other services that help keep people healthy.”
Later this week OHP clients who are going to be enrolled in a new CCO in their community will receive personal notification with the name of the new Coordinated Care Organization. More information for clients can be found at health.oregon.gov.
Dr. Goldberg also points out that under the new state health care law, Coordinated Care Organizations will be required to implement health improvement strategies for the people they serve.
“These improvements are not only about lowering costs,” said Dr. Goldberg. “We will be measuring the success of the new CCOs based on how well they do to improve the health of the people they are serving. And we will all be accountable for that.”
