Reforming healthcare: OR steps well past federal model

Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber last week signed a law that will create new regional coordinated care organizations. The idea is to target the costliest patients and provide up-front care that can prevent emergency room visits and other expensive interventions, and thus save Medicaid a lot of money. Officials say that if all 50 states adopted Oregon's changes, the federal budget would save more than $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years—more than Congress' failed "super committee" was trying to save over the same time period.