Tag Archives: coveroregon

Oct 13 2014

Some parents upset state won’t reveal where sick children attend school

PORTLAND, Ore. — So far the Oregon Health Authority has refused to say where the children sick with enterovirus 68 in the state attend school. Three of them are from Multnomah County. Dr. Richard Leman with OHA says they have no plans to pass that information on to parents. Leman says it’s up to parents to keep a close eye on their kids and to make sure they wash their hands regularly and cover their mouths during a cough or sneeze.
www.katu.com/news/local/Oregon-Entrovirus-patients…p;c=y

Sep 19 2014

The time is Now to stop bleeding at Cover Oregon!!

Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli of John Day and two other Republican senators Saturday called on Democrats to join them in holding an immediate special legislative session with the purpose of ending Cover Oregon. "Next year will be too late…" Gov Kitzhaber is on board with ending Cover Oregon, but said the time to deal with it is in regular legislative session next year. Great, in the mean time Oregonians will pay millions to keep this debacle going until next year.
www.katu.com/politics/GOP-senators-call-for-specia….html


Sep 19 2014

The time is Now to stop bleeding at Cover Oregon!!

Senate Republican Leader Ted Ferrioli of John Day and two other Republican senators Saturday called on Democrats to join them in holding an immediate special legislative session with the purpose of ending Cover Oregon. "Next year will be too late…" Gov Kitzhaber is on board with ending Cover Oregon, but said the time to deal with it is in regular legislative session next year. Great, in the mean time Oregonians will pay millions to keep this debacle going until next year. media.katu.com/documents/GOP_for_immediate_release…n.pdf


Sep 18 2014

Tell Governor Kitzhaber to Shut It Down Cover Oregon!!

Cover Oregon is currently paying salary, benefits, legal services and renting working space for 120 employees and dozens of contractors. Without legislative intervention, the defunct Cover Oregon agency is planning to spend an additional $20 million on operation costs through the remainder of the year, or $200,000 per day in a five day work week. campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=250b3ef…eaba9


Aug 31 2014

Cover Oregon consultant bills state about $600,000

The Oregonian reports Clyde Hamstreet has completed his job stabilizing Oregon’s health care exchange. But the cost of his work and two associates has added up nearly $600,000 and he hasn’t submitted his August invoice. Hamstreet was initially signed to a $100,000 contract in April but the scope of his contract grew and the dollar amount was amended as well. Gov. John Kitzhaber asked Hamstreet to take over the exchange in April when he forced out three top officials. He was hired for a four-to-six-week job that extended into five months because the reorganization turned out to be a bigger job than expected.
www.statesmanjournal.com/story/news/politics/2014/…95625


Jul 11 2014

New Cover Oregon executive director Aaron Patnode will make $215,000 a year!!

Cover Oregon’s new executive director has signed a contract awarding him a base salary of $215,000 a year, more than a $30,000 raise over his predecessor. Aaron Patnode, selected by the health insurance exchange’s board after a lengthy search to replace Howard "Rocky" King, starts Monday, July 14. The 36-year-old Kaiser Permanente manager will make more than twice the salary of Gov. John Kitzhaber. Patnode will also receive full state benefits as well as yearly incentive pay of $32,250 if he meets performance measures set by the Cover Oregon board.
www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2014/07/new_co…river

Jul 2 2014

Cover Oregon’s transition to federal exchange rated ‘high risk’ for Failure!!

A report by independent quality-assessment contractor Maximus found that Cover Oregon’s attempt to transition to the federal exchange is at a high risk of failure, and for many of the same reasons that forced the transition in the first place. The reporting period runs through the end of April, and Maximus found that even then Cover Oregon needed to quickly hire a”systems integrator” (SI) to manage the transfer to the federal exchange. Maximus emphasized that delay in hiring a systems integrator could jeopardize enrollments for next year. Nine other companies are also in the running for the contract, which Cover Oregon estimates will be for $30-$35 million.
A recent estimate found that 80,000 people who enrolled through Cover Oregon this year will have to re-enroll through the federal exchange next year. over Oregon still has not hired a systems integrator, however, nearly two months after that warning. It first posted official notice that it was looking for one on May 26. Documents obtained by the On Your Side Investigators show a decision is due Monday. Documents obtained by the On Your Side Investigators show a decision is due Monday.
www.katu.com/news/investigators/Cover-Oregons-tran….html

Jun 23 2014

Oracle Cover Oregon website worked, but plug pulled for political reasons Why??

Software vendor Oracle provided information last week to the U.S. House and Energy Committee claiming the website was operational in February, but that the state of Oregon pulled the plug on it for political reasons. The On Your Side Investigators obtained a copy of the Power Point presentation, which alleges the state deliberately distorted the case for abandoning the Cover Oregon website in favor of transitioning to the federal exchange. Kitzhaber blamed Oracle for missing deadlines and for what he called fundamental flaws in the portal’s architecture and for thousands of bugs in the system. The On Your Side Investigators reported in December that the decision not to hire a Systems Integrator was the first major wrong turn for the project. The Investigators unearthed reports from independent quality-assessment contractor Maximus that reached the same conclusion. Oracle says it tried to keep the project in line even in the months after it missed its go-live date of Oct. 1, but Cover Oregon officials continued to circumvent normal procedures and attempt to expand the scope of work beyond what was necessary to make the website functional.
www.katu.com/news/investigators/Oracle-Cover-Orego….html

Jun 23 2014

Lawsuit claims Regence BlueCross BlueShield no longer acting like nonprofit

Lawyers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Oregon nonprofit health insurer Regence BlueCross BlueShield, saying it is acting like a for-profit company by stockpiling excess funds that support large salaries rather than health care for policyholders. The suit lists Regence policyholder Tanya March and her two children as plaintiffs as well as Dischinger Orthodontics of Lake Oswego. Cambia Health Solutions, the parent company for Regence and its sister companies in Washington, Utah and Idaho, does not report total executive compensation that includes income from for-profit subsidiaries, making those figures difficult to ascertain. However, in 2012, Cambia CEO Mark Ganz told The Oregonian he earned $1.94 million.
www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2014/06/lawsui…river