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It’s best to be sitting down whenever you look at a doctor’s bill. Seems that goes double for vaccination billing at Oregon Health & Science University, which is preparing to buy crosstown rival Legacy Health. OHSU recently charged one Portland powerlifter $377 for a Prevnar20 pneumonia shot, after Medicare’s share (“Getting the Jab,” WW, Jan. 3). Val Davis told WW her story, which raises questions about pricing after the Legacy sale. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Cindy Abernethy, via Facebook: “I got my Prevnar vax at Costco. Didn’t cost me anything. Billed my Medicare/United Healthcare plan $290. This OHSU charge is outrageous.”
Fred and Joan, via wweek.com: “This woman’s experience makes me even more leery of OHSU’s merger with my [Blue Cross Blue Shield] health plan! When you go purchase a service or product in the private market, you generally know what the cost will be before purchase.”
Merilee Karr, via email: “Val Davis is a great poster child and a quote machine. I especially liked the seamless transition from her story to the bigger-impact story of health care costs—from a particular vaccine locally to higher costs under bigger conglomerates and the OHSU-Legacy conglomerate on the horizon.”
Seems2Me, via wweek.com: “A big part of the problem is that at OHSU the providers do not know what their patients are being charged. I was helping an uninsured family research the cost of an OHSU service they were referred to. I called the clinic; no one there knew how much the assessment would be. I asked to speak to the provider; she said she had no idea how much the appointment would be and that she had tried to find out, but no one would tell her. She suggested I call the billing office, said she would really appreciate it if I would let her know what I find out. She said it makes her uncomfortable when she has no idea what kind of burden her recommendations place on her patients.”
Lee Ann Bourcier, via email: “Please, please investigate ALL of this substandard payment/care policy in the U.S., where we are told we have the best care in the world. Yeah, if you’re independently wealthy and can pay for access to all that ‘best care in the world.’”
Matthew Chapman, via Facebook: “$55 fee for a shot that takes seconds? Who do they think they are, Providence?”
RETHINK THE WINE LOBBY
I applaud the Oregon Health Authority and its Rethink the Drink campaign [”New Oregon Health Authority Anti-Drinking Ad Irks Legislative Wine Caucus, Alcohol Industry,” wweek.com, Jan. 4]. Substance use disorder and alcohol addiction are chronic conditions that demand the same indiscriminate education and treatment we give to other leading health concerns. Oregonians face a national alcohol industry ad budget in the multiple billions of dollars. What the industry banks in profits costs Oregonians billions in health care, public safety and productivity not to mention the lasting toll on lives, families, and workplaces. According to OHA, alcohol is heavily advertised in Oregon stores, including in ways harmful to minors. These marketing tactics are no different than those of the tobacco industry’s flavored products, which are widely vilified and rightly facing a statewide ban. Where is the public disapproval from our legislators?
Overcoming the lure of false benefits these ads sell with important public health messages creates critical consumer awareness that will improve statewide outcomes. No reasonable viewer would conclude a Rethink the Drink ad is an attack on Oregon’s wine industry or even wine in general. The knee-jerk sensitives of our lawmakers demonstrate misplaced priorities. It is the countless preventable deaths of Oregonians due to alcohol that should engender legislative outrage, not the public health campaigns to lessen them. We need leaders at all levels of Oregon government to recognize the harmful role alcohol plays in our state by centering the lives of Oregonians above all else.
Joe Buck, Mayor of Lake Oswego
LETTERS to the editor must include the author’s street address and phone number for verification. Letters must be 250 or fewer words. Submit to: P.O. Box 10770, Portland, OR 97296 Email: mzusman@wweek.com