The Oregon Health Plan: development and implementation of an innovative method of delivery of health care services to the medically indigent.

BACKGROUND

Health care for the medically indigent under the federal Medicaid system often provides care for only a fraction (ranging from 20% to 80%) of the poor who nominally qualify for care. Oregon has developed a unique system that replaces such a system with one that provides a comprehensive complement of medical care for all the poor but limits the care to conditions and procedures on a prioritized list.

METHODS

The Health Services Commission, a group of physicians, nurses, and public representatives, developed a list of over 740 diagnoses-treatment pairs and, with considerable public input, prioritized them in order of importance. The principal values used to develop the list were the prevention of death and the cost of the disease and its treatment. In the final ordering of the diagnosis-treatment pairs, public health and prevention of morbidity was also considered. Cancer diagnoses, and indeed all diseases, were not singled out for special consideration in this process. The Oregon Health Plan was implemented in 1994 with funds to cover 606 of 743 listed diagnoses. Diagnoses involving cancer were nearly all covered within these 606 items. The principal exception was coverage for Curative Treatment for Cancer when the likelihood for success was less than 5%.

RESULTS

The prioritized list has met its goal of comprehensive medical care for the indigent population. The number of medically uninsured Oregonians has fallen significantly, and there have been few complaints about the Plan. Cancer care has been delivered to Oregon Health Plan clients with very few complaints or appeals of decisions concerning coverage. Palliative care is provided under a number of covered lines, as are curative medical and surgical treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

The Oregon Health Plan represents an alternative method for delivering medical care, including the full range of cancer care, to the indigent. As there are limited funds in all state systems, the citizens of Oregon have decided to provide care using a prioritized list to allow provision of medical care to the entire Medicaid population. Such a plan represents a viable alternative to the more common method of providing everything but only to a limited number of poor citizens.