Stories & Connections
(If you have a correction, update or new material to add for Oregon, please see our State to the Nation page where you can add information.)
July 7, 2015: The Oregon Association of Naturopathic Physicians (OANP) has filed a class action suite on behalf of patients and providers against Health Net Health Plan of Oregon and its contracted benefits provider American Specialty Health (ASH).
A PDF of the Press Release is here.
May 4, 2015: H 2468 Signed by Governor Kate Brown.
Oregon became the first state to pass legislation that replicates the language and intention of Section 2706.
Although the bill carries over the language of Section 2706 that has been criticized for leaving loopholes in the provision, the Oregon version includes requirements for insurers:
“…(1)(c) Annually report to the Department of Consumer and Business Services, … the insurer’s plan for ensuring that the network of providers for each health benefit plan meets the requirements of (Section II).”
Section II contains the language of Section 2706:
“…(2)(a) An insurer may not discriminate with respect to participation under a health benefit plan or coverage under the plan against any health care provider who is acting within the scope of the provider’s license or certification in this state.”
State activists will continue to ensure that licensed integrative practitioners are added to carrier provider networks, and to include them as participating service providers for delivering Essential Health Benefits (EHBs).
(For reasons that are as yet unclear, the bill does not take effect until 2017.)
Oregon Integrative Medicine Credentialing Advances
Feb 2, 2015
Oregon, one of the most progressive of states for responding to citizen demand for integrative and holistic therapies is providing additional formal attention through a new document issued by the state’s Integrative Medicine Advisory Group (IMAG). The “Integrative Medicine Credentialing Information Tool” helps integrative medicine professionals inform and educate health system partners by identifying common credentialing elements required by the nation’s major health care accrediting entities — The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and others. This is important because it bonds the integrative professions more closely with Oregon’s five health care regulatory boards.
The IMAG was established to advise the Director of the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) on ways to promote the use of complementary and alternative medical disciplines in the state’s health care delivery system including in Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs).
For more on the IMAG, see the Reference Section below. Click here for a PDF copy of the “Integrative Medicine Credentialing Information Tool.”
Reference, Contacts and Complaint Submission
Oregon Insurance Division
Commissioner/Chief Actuary
Laura Cali
350 Winter St. NE
Salem, OR 97301-3883
Consumer advocacy: 503-947-7984
Toll-free: 1-888-877-4894
Email: [email protected]
Health Insurance Complaint Office
Mission: Helping people and communities achieve optimum physical, mental and social well-being through partnerships, prevention and access to quality, affordable health care.
The Integrative Medicine Advisory Group (IMAG) was established in the fall of 2013 to advise the Director of the OHA on key topics such as access, consumer choice, and quality of care in support of the Triple Aim. Its members are two CCO medical directors, a commercial plan medical directors and five integrative medicine professions in Oregon that have a federally recognized accrediting agency and a regulatory board for Oregon:
Acupuncture and Oriental medicine
Chiropractic
Licensed direct-entry midwifery
Massage therapy
Naturopathic medicine
Oregon Association of Naturopathic Physicians
OANP Letter to Insurance Division on Provider Non-Discrimination, Aug. 2014 (PDF)
An OANP poster summarizing the benefits of ensuring non-discrimimation for naturopathic physicians, but which also serves as a model for other disciplines.
(If you can add to or update these references, please see our page, State to the Nation)