The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) recently announced 19 applications have been received in response to the recent request for applications (RFA) process for Coordinated Care Organization (CCO) 2.0. Awards for five year CCO contracts will be announced in July of 2019 and will run from January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2024. To view applicants and proposed service areas, click here. To view OHA’s full announcement, click here.

Oregon’s CCOs began in 2012 when the Oregon State Legislature passed and Governor John Kitzhaber signed into law SB 1580, a bill foundational to Oregon’s health care transformation. The bill created new provider groups (CCOs) that would serve Oregon Health Plan clients and emphasize prevention and the  integration of medical, dental, and mental health care. The three overarching goals of CCOs (often referred to as the “triple aim”) are to: (1) ensure that individuals can access timely and quality health care services; (2) to reduce the annual growth rate of health care costs; and (3) to improve the overall health outcomes for Oregon’s Health Plan members.

The Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB) is the policy-making and oversight body for OHA. In October 2018, the OHPB approved a comprehensive set of policies to improve the care for Oregon Health Plan members in the newest phase of health care transformation, CCO 2.0. Their policy recommendations, were informed by four key areas of focus that Governor Kate Brown outlined in a request letter to OHPB, including:

  1. Improvement of the behavioral health system;
  2. Increased emphasis on value and pay for performance;
  3. Focus on social determinants of health and health equity; and
  4. Maintaining sustainable cost growth.

In the RFA process, OHA is seeking expertise in the following areas from applicants:

  • Care coordination and integration;
  • Delivery system transformation;
  • Community engagement;
  • Clinical and service delivery;
  • Business administration; and
  • Finance.

From the 19 applicants, each county will be covered by at least one CCO. In some cases, depending on the outcome of the RFA process, more than one CCO could cover one county.

Contributed by: Megan Chuinard | Public Affairs Associate