Financial hardships for insurance company make some question whether the loan was too risky.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
OHSU loaned Moda Health Plan Inc. $50 million in 2014 and now financial hardships for the insurance company are making some question whether the loan was too risky.
Moda officials maintain that the company is not at risk of peril. The Oregonian said the loan “props up” the insurer.
“Moda, like OHSU, stepped forward and played a critical role in the rollout of the Affordable Care Act,” said Lawrence Furnstahl, OHSU chief financial officer. “We were very proud that they did that. They didn’t sit on the sidelines until the thing sorted itself out.”
How and why this transaction came together provides a lens into OHSU’s ambition to become one of the state’s dominant healthcare providers. The collection of hospitals, researchers and health-related professional schools has transformed itself into a $2.5 billion-a-year economic juggernaut.
Though it gets tens of millions of dollars in state money each year, OHSU gained its independence from the state in 1995. It didn’t need outside approval to cut the Moda deal, though it kept Gov. Kate Brown informed.
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
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