1. GUEST VIEWPOINT
ACA gives PeaceHealth more
options to help
BY RAND O’LEARY
For The Register-Guard
DEC 14, 2015
The year 2014 was transformative for health care in Oregon.
Despite its bumpy rollout, more than 240,000 Oregonians have gained coverage
through Cover Oregon. This includes 69,000 enrolled in private health plans and
171,000 enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s version of Medicaid.
The Oregon Health Authority’s recently released 2014 Community Benefit Report
illustrates the striking impact that this expansion in coverage has had.
For years, providing free or discounted care to uninsured individuals was an
essential and significant part of how nonprofit hospitals contributed to their
communities. In addition to this charity care, community benefit contributions
included research, education and donations to causes benefiting community
health.
In the course of a year, charity care costs at hospitals statewide uniformly
dropped. PeaceHealth’s Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend and University
District, which previously ranked third highest in charity care spending and fourth
overall in community benefit, saw costs go down noticeably between the 2013 and
2014 fiscal years. PeaceHealth is the region’s largest provider of health services —
with hospitals and clinics in Eugene, Springfield, Florence and Cottage Grove —
and is by far the primary source of care for the most vulnerable populations in our
community. This did not change in 2014. We continued to provide care for all
patients, regardless of their ability to pay. What changed was that fewer patients
who came through our doors were uninsured.

2. The Affordable Care Act was intentional in reducing charity care costs and giving
health care organizations more dollars to spend on upstream efforts to keep
people well and out of hospitals.
In 2007, when the Oregon Health Authority published its first Community Benefit
Report, an estimated 621,000 Oregonians — 16.8 percent of the population —
were without health insurance. As of June 2014, that number had fallen to
201,794.
With the decreased need for charity care comes the opportunity to expand our
community benefit work to include more activities such as free screenings, injury-
prevention classes and exercise and nutrition education, as well as to forge
stronger relationships with our community partners.
Great change can be destabilizing. Health insurers have reported losses while state
officials have warned of a potential budget shortfall in 2017, when the state will
be required to share Medicaid costs previously paid entirely by the federal
government. Additionally, despite the increase in coverage, many Oregonians still
struggle with high medical costs.
Offering the best possible care while keeping patient costs down is a top priority
for PeaceHealth, but we realize that the medical billing side of patient care remains
a complex and sometimes frustrating process. Providing care for patients does not
end at discharge: We provide a range of informational and support resources to
help our patients — some of whom are our own PeaceHealth caregivers — to
understand their bill and find the right options for assistance.
We have multiple financial assistance and financial counseling services for both
insured and uninsured patients. Patients can get a reduction of anywhere from 10
percent to 100 percent of their portion of the bill. While we have seen a reduction
in our financial assistance applications as more patients become insured under
Cover Oregon and the Oregon Health Plan, we remain committed to making these
resources available to patients who experience difficulties.
Looking ahead to 2016, we will continue down a path of transformation.
PeaceHealth is making a transition from a system focused on treating acutely ill
patients — the hospital model — to one that centers on keeping people and
communities healthier — the population health model.

3. Serving the health care needs of the community has been a cornerstone of our
mission since our founding by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace 125 years ago.
PeaceHealth will hold strong to that commitment, no matter where the path ahead
leads us.
Rand O’Leary, a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, is
president of hospital services for PeaceHealth in Oregon.