[4] In 1994, the plan's first year of operation, nearly 120,000 new members enrolled, and bad debts at Portland hospitals dropped 16%.
[7][8] In 2008, the Oregon Health Authority began implementing changes to Medicaid policy to increase screening rates and provide more access to services for young children at risk of developmental disorders.
In March, Oregon Senate Bill 1580 was signed into law by Governor John Kitzhaber establishing Coordinated Care Organizations, which will focus on prevention and coordination of physical, mental and dental care for Oregon Health Plan clients.
CCOs focus on prevention of illness and disease and improving care to keep patients healthy and to manage existing health conditions.
[13] By December 2014, enrollment in Oregon's Medicaid and CHIP programs had increased to 1,030,940 people (26% of the state population).
The OHP Plus package has no premiums, but some adults may be required to pay small copayments for outpatient services and some prescription drugs.
[27] Springfield resident Barbara Wagner said her oncologist prescribed the chemotherapy drug Tarceva for her lung cancer, but that Oregon Health Plan officials sent her a letter declining coverage for the drug, and informing her that they will only pay for palliative care and physician-assisted dying.
[30] Wagner's plight garnered a flurry of attention from the media,[31] the internet,[32][33][34][35] and triggered protest from religious groups.
According to Kitzhaber and Saha, the Oregon Health Plan covers nearly all chemotherapy prescribed for cancer patients, including the multiple rounds of chemotherapy that Wagner received; Wagner's request for second-line treatment was denied because of the drug's limited benefit and very high cost, which would have led to the denial of access to well-established, first-line treatments for other cancer patients.
Kitzhaber and Saha stated that "the idea that treatment has ever been denied because death would be more 'cost effective'...is both abhorrent and a blatant distortion of the facts.
[T]he fact that [physician aid in dying] is covered by the health plan has no bearing on the decision in this or any other case."
Among other challenges, the board has been advised that changes in federal requirements will affect funds that currently support 24,000 Oregonians on the OHP Standard plan.