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Dispatches from public radio's correspondent at the Oregon Legislature. This is a venue for political and policy coverage of the state government in Salem and its impact on the people of Oregon.

Oregon Health Authority Director Says More Problems Could Be Revealed

Chris Lehman
/
Northwest News Network
Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen said more bad news could be coming for the agency.

Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen said more bad news could be coming for the agency he’s led since August. Allen made the statement to a legislative panel in Salem Monday, but he gave no details of what the revelations could be.

It comes soon after news broke that the agency could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars of Medicaid payments it should not have authorized.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward told Allen she wants the agency to work quickly to address any problems.

“My sense is that you’re working very hard to get to the root of that,” Steiner Hayward said. "I think many of us were dismayed to hear that this was a problem that had been known long ago and not addressed.”

Allen said the Health Authority is conducting an internal audit of the situation.

Separately, the Oregon Secretary of State’s office is also working on an audit of the Oregon Health Authority’s Medicaid program.