Health Insurance Cuts for Oregon State Employees

In the midst of a state budget crisis in Oregon, April 1, 2011, will mark the beginning of several cuts to health insurance plans for state employees.

In the midst of a $10 million state budget shortfall in Oregon, Gov. John Kitzhaber approved a revised insurance plan for state employees on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, according to a Salem, Ore., Statesman-Journal article by Dennis Thompson, Jr., titled "Board outlines Oregon public-employee health plan cuts." Developed by the Oregon Public Employees' Benefit Board, the plan goes into effect on April 1. The Board voted for this policy change, which includes changes to co-pays, as well as changes in coverage of certain costly procedures not proven to be more effective than their lower-priced alternatives, according to Thompson.

“The cost of health care is just eating everything else alive, and it's not going to change," said Kitzhaber, in the article, “Potential Health Cuts for Oregon State Workers,” published by the Associated Press on Portland’s KPTV-TV Channel 12 website on Wednesday, Feb. 16.

Ranging from upper endoscopies, to bariatric surgery, to dental crowns, the increased co-pays for state employees will be widespread in the plan approved by Gov. Kitzhaber, a former emergency room physician. State employees will take on additional co-pays for prescription medications, emergency room visits and receiving care for out-of-network providers, according to the Associated Press article.

While the changes may seem grim for Oregon state employees, they are the result of Kitzhaber’s urging of the Board to devise changes that will provide the best possible health care for workers at the lowest-possible cost to the state. By instilling changes as soon as possible, the state can more effectively manage rising healthcare costs before the situation becomes so dire that its employees shoulder even more of the burden—including higher monthly premiums.

"The longer we wait, the deeper the cuts," Board Deputy Administrator Kathy Loretz said, as reported by the Associated Press.

Managing Rising Healthcare Costs – Prevention and Alternative Therapies
More then ever, state workers in Oregon will be wise to embrace preventive care, as well as alternative treatments and therapies—not an easy feat, but one worth considering in the face of rising patient costs. According to the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases, for example, alternatives to hip replacement surgery, such as walking aids and exercise, can prove to be drastically helpful with slowing or reducing damage to the hip joint. For some, this could potentially eliminate the need for the costly hip replacement surgery.

Oregon joins states such as Wisconsin and North Carolina in recent state-employee health insurance cuts as a way to address budgetary deficits. Therefore, prevention—conventionally known as the most cost-effective approach to healthcare—carries amplified urgency. In the midst of skyrocketing healthcare costs in every state, preventive care is important for Oregon state employees as well as citizens across the nation. For example, according to Kaiser Permanente, a leading health care organization, costly conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are “strongly correlated” with preventable factors such as obesity, smoking and poor diet. As states across the country face record budget crises, it is likely that other states will follow the lead of Oregon and other states in revising the health insurance of their state employees. Disease prevention is especially crucial in ensuring both higher quality of life and lower healthcare costs.

Public employees in Oregon will receive information during the month of March, detailing the upcoming changes to their health insurance plans.

[via suite101.com]