Committee members and private clinicians pressed county staff and CCO representatives for clearer program data after a recent Oregon Health Plan/CCO policy change the committee said reduced youth access to reimbursed mental-health therapy.

Amber Bowman, a private-practice clinician, said she had been seeing 14 OHP-enrolled youth before the policy change, that nine of those youth chose to continue seeing her without insurance billing, and that five of those are on her reduced-fee sliding scale. "Five of those 9, they qualify for my lowest reduced fee," she said, describing the financial strain on both families and small providers who must choose whether to absorb costs to continue care.

Members discussed whether the CareOregon/CPCCO member data presented earlier captured the full impact. County staff and a CPCCO representative said the member counts were pulled from claims at a specific point in time and can change as claims are submitted. Committee members asked the CCO to provide comparative claims data from before and after the Oct. 1 change (or the nearest available monthly snapshots) to estimate how many children lost reimbursed services.

Providers described another barrier: private-practice clinicians said network-application processes are lengthy and many applications are denied, reducing the ability of private clinicians to join CCO networks promptly. Committee members suggested using the Ombudsman for individual unresolved client claims and asked staff to pursue program-level data to inform county-level advocacy.

In related service updates, Shaira of CBH reported that funding reductions forced closure of a five-bed south-county shelter in Seaside (closed Nov. 9) but that CBH found housing for current residents, retained staff by reallocating positions, and is proceeding with opening Baker Building, a low-income permanent supportive-housing project, in December. CBH also said an on-site clinic pharmacy (Genoa at Bond Street) will end operations at the clinic in January; operations through January will continue while CBH plans next steps.

The committee did not take formal votes on policies but asked staff to follow up with the CCO for program data and to circulate any CPCCO dashboard material already available.