Riley
heeds Thatcher's request for
legislative investigation into
OHA's insidious plans to
target HIV patients and
FamilyCare
SALEM, Ore.-Oregonians may
finally find out the truth
about the sick practice of
government abuse within the
state's executive branch.
Democrat state Sen. Chuck
Riley, D-Hillsboro, and
chairman of the Senate General
Government and Accountability
today announced he will heed
state Sen. Kim Thatcher's
recommendation to investigate
the Oregon Health Authority
for questionable plans to
target HIV patients and one of
Oregon's health care
providers.
"Who knew what and when
did they know it? That's the
question on everyone's mind
right now," said
Thatcher, R-Keizer. "We
are thankful for Chairman
Riley's decision to help us
learn more about this serious
issue."
Thatcher first issued out a
statement, "Brown
administration sought to
exploit HIV patient to aid in
takedown of non-profit 'FamilyCare,'" regarding
her concern over OHA planning
to systematically target HIV
patients in hopes of
exploiting one to smear
FamilyCare Health, one of the
state's 16 health care
providers for the most
vulnerable of Oregonians,
these type of providers are
called coordinated care
organizations (CCOs).
Following Thatcher's
statement, mass outrage ensued
from both sides the aisle and
the media, erupting with
anger, until Lynne
Saxton, OHA's director was
axed. Saxton has
consistently come under fire
from both sides of the aisle
for perpetual failure and
abuse of the state agency.
Thatcher, who sits on the
watchdog Senate General
Government and Accountability
Committee, last week advocated
to the committee's chairman
state Sen. Chuck Riley,
D-Hillsboro, that they should
enact a legislative inquiry to
gain much-needed information
on the Oregon Health
Authority's (OHA) culture of
abuse.
"Right now we know what
happened - OHA abused taxpayer
dollars to create a smear
campaign against a health care
provider for the most
vulnerable and planned to
systematically target HIV
patients. But what we do not
yet know is why this was
allowed to happen in the first
place. We need to gain a
fuller scope of the background
on this horrific action. We
cannot allow state agencies to
use the force of government to
target perceived political
enemies," said Thatcher
when requesting the
legislative inquiries.
"It is chilling how much
unchecked power exists within
certain powerful agencies in
our state government,"
said Thatcher earlier this
week. "When a few people
in charge don't like a person,
or a business, or a
non-profit, they can use the
might of the 800-pound gorilla
government to pound them down
and ride roughshod over
them."
"It is highly irregular
that a state agency would plan
to engage in any kind of
campaign to attack another
entity," Riley said in a
press release today. "It
is incumbent upon the
Legislature to ensure that
state agencies are accountable
for their actions. The
Committee on General
Government and Accountability
is the best group to begin
delving into this issue and
asking questions that
Oregonians deserve to have
answered."
The legislative inquiries will
be held during the watchdog
committee's meetings Sep.
18 through 20, at the
Statehouse. More details about
exact time, date and location
will be released once they are
finalized by the Senate
Majority Office.
###
For follow-up commentary
please contact Thatcher
spokesman Jonathan Lockwood at 971-645-2140.
LETTER
from the office of
SEN. KIM THATCHER
Sen. Chuck Riley,
Our roles on the Senate
General Government and
Accountability Committee are
ones we both take seriously. We
are the watchdog for state
agencies. I think we agree that
Oregonians deserve to know why
the Oregon Health Authority (OHA)
maliciously targeted private
entities and abused taxpayer
dollars. We should take the
opportunity to address
Oregonians concerns regarding
the flailing agency.
This week, following a
statement my office released,
OHA came under sustained, heavy
fire from both sides of the
aisle and the media for planning
to systematically target HIV
patients and FamilyCare Health,
one of the state's 16
coordinated care organizations (CCOs),
with a detailed and malicious
public relations (PR) plan. We
have been told the plan didn't
happen, but can we be sure? How
many HIV patients were subjected
to OHA's "PR" plan?
What was the director's
involvement in the development
of the plan? When was the
governor's office informed of
the plan? Who directed the
development of the plan? These
are serious questions and they
are just the beginning.
We know the PR plan's
purpose was to discredit and
defame the health care provider
in the eyes of the public and to
manipulate lawmakers into
killing FamilyCare backed
legislation to make health care
reimbursement rate-setting more
transparent. When the PR
"hit job" was
uncovered, and media reports
highlighted the disgraceful use
of taxpayer's dollars and the
abuse of government power, OHA
Director Lynne Saxton resigned.
The FamilyCare matter was
not the first of its kind. Last
April, a Linn County Circuit
Court judge issued a temporary
restraining order blocking OHA,
DEQ, and Oregon OSHA from
implementing a similar PR plan.
In that instance, OHA sought to
discredit and defame Entek
International, a Lebanon based
manufacturer, because Entek -
though it was in compliance with
all existing environmental
standards - may have been
emitting at levels that could
exceed DEQ standards the agency
was lobbying to enact. In other
words, they were trying to nail
Entek for violations of yet to
be promulgated future rules.
Ironically, Entek was strongly
opposed to the gross receipts
tax aggressively pursued
throughout the session by the
Democrat majority.
OHA's pernicious PR plans
cannot be discussed without
mentioning that OHA has made
nearly $200 million in unlawful
Medicaid payments to
approximately 37,00 individuals.
This is egregious especially
given the $600 million in new
taxes the Legislature just
adopted to fund the program. It
appears, agency officials are
more interested in wielding
their power to punish perceived
enemies than to effectively and
efficiently deliver vital health
care services to Oregonians.
OHA is an agency in
crisis. A public inquiry into
these so-called
"communications" plans
should be conducted. Sen. Chuck
Riley, D-Hillsboro, chairman of
the Senate Committee on General
Government and Accountability,
is uniquely positioned to
address such violations of the
public trust. It is extremely
vital former Director Saxton as
well as other agency staff, are
forced to answer questions
explaining the plan's
development. Oregonians deserve
to know the details surrounding
these plans, so the legislature
can ensure no further abuses of
power can occur.
Oregonians deserve a state
government that is efficient,
effective, and accountable; not
one that wastes taxpayer dollars
and uses its regulatory power to
punish its perceived political
enemies. Chair Riley cannot let
these abuses go unaddressed.
With great concern,
Sen. Kim Thatcher
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