Richard Gibson

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT RICHARD GIBSON

Health care in the US is already unaffordable for most people, and cost increases are coming fast. Over the last twenty years, most of the increased productivity of workers has gone to pay for their health care, leaving real wages for most folks largely unchanged. About three quarters of personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills, and many of those people have health insurance! Health care costs and the premiums that our employers pay for us have made US companies increasingly uncompetitive in world markets.In Oregon, use of health care resources has been pretty flat over the last few years. What is really causing increased costs is dramatically escalating prices – for hospital facilities, for professional fees, and for pharmaceuticals. What can be done about it? Oregon has embarked on a health care cost growth target of allowing no more than 3.4% increase per year per capita in the total cost of all health care for all Oregonians on all types of insurance taken together. Recent annual growth rates have been north of 6%, so we have an immense challenge ahead of us.At Comagine Health, our team analyzes health care bills for about three quarters of Oregonians. We work with providers, hospitals, and health insurance companies to understand where we can trim expense without affecting the quality or effectiveness of health care. People facing serious injury or illness shouldn’t also be worried that medical bills will bankrupt their family. Check us out at Comagine Health!