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Physicians table talks about Oregon Health Plan contract By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Jackson County physicians want to see how the legislative Emergency Board treats the Oregon Health Plan before they decide whether to expand their involvement in the state-funded health-care system. PrimeCare, the county's independent physicians association, has tabled discussions about signing a contract with the Oregon Health Plan. The physicians were considering an arrangement that effectively would have made PrimeCare a health maintenance organization for some 20,000 Jackson County residents enrolled in the plan. Instead, physicians will continue to see patients under existing arrangements, in which the state pays physicians a set fee for service. That allows doctors to limit the number of health-plan patients they see and may make it more difficult for some people to see a doctor in a crisis, said Viki Barbour of Jackson County's Public Health Services. "It's very challenging for some people to get into care," Barbour said. "There's no obligation on any (doctor) to accept those (OHP) clients." In a letter to Gov. John Kitzhaber, PrimeCare Director Mike Bond said physicians believe they could manage a "financially successful" Oregon Health Plan, but they have questions about how the plan may change as Oregon copes with budget shortages. Physicians want to see how the Legislature changes the health plan before they create an administrative structure to manage Jackson County residents who are enrolled in the plan. "OHP will go through major revisions next year," Bond said recently. "Nobody knows what it will look like or who will be eligible." Barbour noted that Oregon's declining economy could make more people eligible for the health plan. "More and more people are struggling," she said. "That puts more pressure on the safety net clinics to see who they can." "PrimeCare is understandably cautious," said Peg Crowley, director of the Community Health Center, which serves low-income patients at clinics in Medford, Ashland and White City. "Without question the Oregon Health Plan is going to change over the next year," Crowley said. "We just don't know how much. It's a prudent decision at this time." Bond said PrimeCare spent nine months studying whether it could provide better care to Oregon Health Plan members by receiving a fixed fee per patient per month to provide health care. "We visited various OHP contractors around the state," he said. "We had a three-page list of standard questions. We asked 'What's working well?' and 'What's not working well?' " Oregon House and Senate committees opened hearings Monday on how to deal with a $700 million revenue shortfall in the state budget. Kitzhaber had previously directed state agencies to draft plans showing how cuts up to 10 percent would affect their programs. The Human Services Department reported that a spending cut of that magnitude would require steps such as terminating dental insurance for 190,000 health-plan members. Bond said local physicians decided the money that would have to be spent to create a HMO-style management system could be better spent right now on providing care. "The board (of directors) tabled discussion until we know what OHP will look like, who will be eligible, and how it will be funded rather than create an administrative support structure that might be useless." Bond stressed the group's decision does not pass judgment on the health plan. "The vote was not against contracting," he wrote in the letter to Kitzhaber, "but simply to table the question until such time as more information is available concerning the new schedule of benefits, additional enrollees, financing, and ability of our doctors to provide adequate medical care under the overall system that will result." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.