Audit finds Medicaid funding errors

By Julia Shumway | Editor

The Oregon Health Authority may have overpaid up to $4.1 million from 2020 to 2024 because of duplicate identification codes for some Oregon Health Plan enrollees, resulting in double payments to community care organizations providers for some treatment they provided to Medicaid enrollees. That’s small in the scope of the total $37 billion the state paid CCOs in that time period, but auditors flagged it as a problem as the state’s Medicaid system faces federal funding cuts and scrutiny.

Also in today's edition:

State isn’t on track to meet its transportation emission goals
Feds try to change homelessness funding from housing-first to addiction treatment and sweeps
Commentator Meg Olson on low vaccine rates and what Oregon can do about them

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Oregon Medicaid program erroneously paid up to $4.1M due to system errors, audit says

By Shaanth Nanguneri

An emergency room at a Portland hospital is pictured. Oregon’s Medicaid insurance program tries to keep people out of emergency rooms by focusing on primary and preventive care, but it may have overpaid providers, according to a new audit. (Photo by Lynne Terry/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Oregon’s Medicaid program overpaid up to $4.1 million to local healthcare organizations across the state after state officials failed to account for hundreds of duplicate identification codes for enrollees, putting federal funding for the program at risk, according to a new audit.

Oregon isn’t on track to meet transportation emissions goals, forecast shows

By Mia Maldonado

A TriMet bus drives past Union Station in Portland, Oregon. TriMet uses a mix of electric buses and renewable diesel buses. (Photo by Mia Maldonado/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Oregon has lost much of the progress it had made toward its transportation greenhouse gas emissions goal, according to a new progress forecast.

Trump admin aims to shift homelessness grants toward addiction treatment, enforcement

By Robbie Sequeira | Stateline

A campsite is seen in Anchorage, Alaska, last year. The Trump administration has proposed a major shift in homelessness grants. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

In its latest effort to overhaul federal homelessness funding, the Trump administration is proposing to provide more money to localities that prioritize treatment-first policies such as sober living, more cooperation with law enforcement and more temporary and transitional housing.

Commentary: Oregon policy driving low rates of childhood vaccinations

By Meg Olson

In honor of Immunization Awareness Month, the federal government used a new presidential executive order to continue its assault on childhood immunizations. It was surprising and dangerous to hear the same claims used to scare and confuse parents for years now being used to justify changes to national vaccine policy.