This was a very good week for Oregon.
First, as you may have heard, this week Governor John Kitzhaber and the Obama Administration announced an agreement that is designed to support a health system that will bring better health at a more sustainable cost, saving a projected $11 billion in state and federal Medicaid spending over the next decade.
The agreement is tied to a waiver request we submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in March that will give the state both the flexibility and upfront investments to support the work that will be done through new Coordinated Care Organizations. Through the agreement, Oregon's Medicaid program will receive $1.9 billion for health care transformation.
You can read the Governor's press release to learn more.
As the Governor met with federal officials in Washington, D.C., health leaders from all over Oregon continued to make progress here at home. This week, 14 Oregon-based entities submitted the first part of the application to become a Coordinated Care Organization. If all were approved, more than 90 percent of OHP clients would have access to care through a CCO. Monday was the deadline for CCOs to apply to be in the first wave of certification. The names of the CCO applicants are listed on cco.health.oregon.gov. The full applications will be posted as soon as they have gone through a completeness review.
The votes of confidence from our federal and local partners showed Oregon is on the right path to truly remake our health care system to be more patient-focused, more geared toward health and more sustainable. Each and every one of us at the Oregon Health Authority should be proud of the work we have all done to get us to this moment.
As Governor Kitzhaber stated from Washington, "This is a defining moment for health care transformation in Oregon."
And it was a very good week.
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