UO E-clips, July 9

Health coverage plans can delay care (Register-Guard): Health insurance plans that require enrollees to pay up-front deductibles before coverage kicks in have an alarming side effect, according to two studies released Tuesday by health policy researchers at the University of Oregon. People enrolled in these plans were two to three times more likely than enrollees in other types of plans to quit taking drugs to control cholesterol and high blood pressure, said Jessica Greene, professor of health policy in the UO’s department of planning, public policy and management. She and Judith Hibbard, a professor in the same department, were co-authors of the papers, which were published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Affairs.

CDHP participants may cut medicine (United Press International): Consumer-driven health plans, or CDHPs, result in some people forgoing care and discontinuing drugs to treat chronic medical problems, U.S. researchers say. A study, published in Health Affairs, says many CDHP enrollees are more likely to quit taking drugs that control high blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications than were participants with medical coverage. Jessica Greene of the University of Oregon says CDHPs seem to influence people through higher out-of-pocket costs, not by making people better informed healthcare consumers.

Signs of life (sciences) on the waterfront (The Oregonian): Last year, an anonymous donor gave $40 million to Oregon Health & Science University to jump-start development on the downtown side of its South Waterfront campus. Nothing happened. No bulldozer growled. No steel soared. No interior design firm celebrated the chance to put kids through college. ... In a striking demonstration of what can be achieved when longtime competitors opt to cohabit, OHSU is offering to partner with the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Portland State University and the Oregon Institute of Technology on a project it calls the Life Sciences Collaborative.

Slim lane could be hefty issue for arena (The Register-Guard): Navigating its $200 million basketball arena through Eugene’s conditional use permit process isn’t the only land use challenge facing the University of Oregon. UO planners also must persuade the Eugene City Council to give up public right of way over an alley and a small part of East 13th Avenue. It’s the only arena decision that goes directly to the council, and thus the only chance for arena detractors to take their case directly to the city’s top elected leaders.

State appears to be in recession (The Register-Guard):The University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators declined in May for the third straight month. The index’s slide confirms a feeling that many Oregon families have had for months: The state probably has been in at least a mild recession since March, said Tim Duy, author of the index. “Even if the numbers aren’t perfectly showing it yet, the rise in inflation has whittled away enough income that (people) feel as if they’re in a recession,” he said. The nation probably slid into recession before Oregon, Duy said.