Coordinated Care the Cornerstone of Reform in Oregon

As many states are trying to implement or exceed federal health reform, Oregon is hoping to provide better, cost-efficient care through coordinated care organizations (CCOs).  CCOs would manage care for Oregon Health Plan (Medicaid) enrollees through a bottom-up approach, with local community councils overseeing the CCOs.  The Oregon Capitol News reports:

All of the states are facing rising Medicare and Medicaid costs, and most have chosen to solve the imbalance by dropping the number of people covered under their programs, Bates said. Oregon seeks to go in the opposite direction, he said, and plans to get there through the creation of Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs).

CCOs were created by House Bill 3650, which passed during the state’s 2011 legislative session. The timeline set forth in the process calls for the first CCOs to be certified in June and to begin enrolling Medicaid members the next month.

Under HB 3650, each CCO is required to have a Community Advisory Council (CAC) with consumers making up a majority of the membership. At least one CAC member must serve on the CCO’s governing board.

Read the entire story here.

There are a lot of details to be ironed out, but we will be keeping our eye on this one.