A Doctor’s Word On The Corvallis Clinic/Optum Oregon MSO Merger
I am Bruce Thomson, MD retired from private medical practice, and I am opposed to the current proposed merger of the Corvallis Clinic with Optum Oregon MSO. I am an advocate for the state of Oregon living up to the recent amendment of Oregon constitution, as voted on by the voters in Oregon in 2022, regarding access to affordable equitable health care for all in Oregon.
Increasingly we are seeing mergers of medical groups in western Oregon to out-of-state national corporations that have been approved by OHA/HCMO. As OHA and HCMO continue to approve these mergers, the health care aspirations as stated in the Oregon Constitution of assuring all Oregonians access to affordable health care are jeopardized. Medical mergers and acquisitions are the leading cause of escalating health care costs as stated (ref slides 5) during presentations to the Oregon Senate Health Care Committee Testimony of November 6, 2023; https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023I1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/277682 and as reaffirmed by OHA’s David Baden in his presentation on mergers and acquisitions to the Nov 6, 2023 Senate Health Care Committee https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023I1/Downloads/CommitteeMeetingDocument/277646
While OHA claims to seek to reduce health care costs for Oregonians, they will not succeed in this goal as they continue to approve mergers with national organizations designed specifically to maximize corporate “earnings” based on ratcheting-up healthcare costs to Oregonians. While OHA claims to seek equity in access to health care for Oregonians, they will not succeed with a strategy which approves mergers that will outprice many Oregonians.
I am opposed to this merger for other reasons as well. Optum Oregon MSO is owned by Optum Inc., which is owned by UnitedHealth Group Inc. In the past 6 months, two large hospital systems in Oregon have notified UnitedHealth Group that they are no longer accepting patients that have Medicare Advantage insurance through UnitedHealth Group. This represents a serious breach in the medical insurance net that impacts all Oregon seniors. It also speaks loudly of the dissatisfaction that these two large health systems have experienced in dealing with UnitedHealth Group. I am not aware of any public statements or any actions that OHA may have taken regarding this breach in insurance to Oregon seniors. If in fact there were no actions that OHA or HCMO could have taken in these two situations then most Oregonians are truly at the mercy of the national health care corporate infrastructure.
Optum Oregon MSO proposes to acquire The Corvallis Clinic. To say that The Corvallis Clinic is the largest multi-specialty medical group in the mid-Willamette Valley is a misstatement. OPTUM Oregon MSO already owns the largest multi-specialty group in western Oregon. With ownership of Portland and Eugene OMG and a number of other medical practices in the Willamette Valley; OPTUM is well on its way to become a major factor in determining health care costs in the Willamette Valley for the foreseeable future. Optum’s goal is to maximize their earnings based on the costs of health care to Oregonians.
During the purchase/merger of Eugene OMG by Optum Oregon MSO in 2022, my disabled son and I were desperately in need of him being evaluated for an evolving medical condition. Our desperation was based in the fact that ALL clinics (PCP and Specialty) of the OMG Eugene medical group were closed to patient appointments every afternoon for up to 4 months as the medical staff and providers were learning the proper use of the Optum medical information system for ordering tests, sending referrals, requesting authorizations, etc. That left my disabled son to need to go the local Peace Health ER on several occasions and otherwise led us to seek alternative locations in the Willamette Valley for him to be evaluated. With the purchase of the Corvallis Clinic, I am concerned for a similar situation evolving for patients served by The Corvallis Clinic wherever they are in the mid-Willamette Valley. If the Corvallis Clinic closes every afternoon for 3-4 months then there is likely to be increased visits to local ERs. For people who cannot afford a visit to the ER that will be a difficult choice.
It is disingenuous for the state to give such a short window of comment, especially during the holiday season, for input from the people of Oregon about this proposed merger. It feels more like this is a done deal, an open and close case of allowing a financially rich national corporation to continue to set in motion the wheels for a future healthcare system that does not contribute to the ethical goals of affordability and equity in the delivery of health care in Oregon. A pause on the approval of mergers of medical groups with out-of-state corporations, especially given the likely outcome of increasing medical costs and inequitable access and the other potential impacts listed by David Baden for the people of Oregon, seems appropriate. This would allow time for OHA and the state of Oregon to re-evaluate if we truly want to live by the Oregon constitution by assuring equitable access to affordable health care. The alternative is that national corporations will set the rate of increase in costs of health care for the foreseeable future.
Bruce Thomson, MD retired
County Health Officer, retired
