Oregon & Washington | Spring | 2008 | Health Plan Analysis
Aetna is among national insurers working to chip away at the market dominance of the Regence Group and Premera Blue Cross in Oregon and Washington. Oregon's Medicaid expansion program, called Oregon Health Plan Standard, is expanding the program to about 10,000 new enrollees – the first expansion since 2004 when enrollment was frozen. The Washington Legislature approved changes to a law that sets up a connector for health insurance for small businesses. At the same time, the Legislature failed to pass a bill that would have forbid data mining, a practice in which health information companies pinpoint the prescribing patterns of doctors. Meanwhile, Medicare Advantage enrollment is growing rapidly in Oregon with a lot of activity in the private-fee-for-service sector.
