St. Charles Medical System, which is the only level 2 trauma center in Central Oregon, is threatening to stop accepting patients who are covered by Medicare Advantage plans. If this were to happen, 20,000 constituents would be impacted as there is no reasonable local alternative for their care. Seniors would be forced to drop their advantage plans, which serve to bundle the inpatient, outpatient and medication coverage under Medicare and use their Medicare Parts A, B, and D coverage separately.

Your constituents will lose their enhanced benefits, which currently provide valuable and additional services and care that Medicare alone does not. Seniors will be burdened with greater out-of-pocket costs that many will not be able to bear, as well as increased administrative effort and confusion caused by the lack of coordination of Parts A, B, D. In sum total, seniors will be receiving less, but paying more for it and exerting more time and energy in understanding and coordinating their care. Many seniors lack the support, resources, and knowledge to navigate the Medicare system, so this change would pose a tremendous hardship for them.

As a constituent, I am asking you to get informed on this issue so that you can intervene and ensure that my benefits, ease and access to care, and affordability for care are preserved.

— Jim Jensen, Bend

 Preserve Bend’s south canyon

Our family and friends regularly use the south canyon trail area, which takes us down to the Deschutes River. This pathway between Brookswood Boulevard and the Deschutes River is a popular recreation site for walking, biking and exploring nature. It is also a crossroads to many viewpoints along the river. It is the only safe way our neighborhood, Southern Crossing, can get to the river without traffic exposure. The trail off Brookswood allows for a cool beginning down to the river and back. The canopy provides much needed shade from the huge and historic, pre-settler ponderosas lining the trail, which help to block the sounds of traffic from the boulevard.

Everyone who walks this trail notices nature’s many gifts. Biking this area provides lots of fun while inside a virtual nature preserve. Almost everyone who enjoys the mountain bike challenges, visits the river before riding back home.

The south canyon has scenic cliffs that overlook the Deschutes River and its entire west side is joined by the river.

South canyon provides walking shortcuts to other neighborhoods, avoiding the need to add to Bend’s traffic issues. This could be a haven for our south-side communities as Shevlin Park is for the west. You can not visit this little paradise without experiencing its wildlife. My granddaughters are thrilled every time they visit south canyon. They enjoy the river, water and many trails. They are especially impressed when they see this area as the original Native Americans saw it. They’ve made it a contest for who can find the most animals along the way. We explore this amazing place all year-round. This property is very special to my family and our community. Please save this “gem” for our future generations to come.

— Michael and Christin Zapp

Medicare Advantage worked for us

I feel compelled to provide a Medicare Advantage subscriber’s viewpoint to St. Charles Health System’s claim that they are considering dropping these plans due to “barriers to pre-authorization and delays and denials” as one of the key reasons. My husband and I have been PacificSource Medicare Advantage customers since retiring nine years ago and have never experienced problems. In December 2021, my husband was diagnosed with late-stage kidney cancer that required immediate surgery. The local surgeon with whom we first met basically threw up his hands and said not to expect a surgery date at St. Charles for months due to the post-COVID disarray at St. Charles. Thank goodness for our Summit Medical oncologist’s intervention. He called Oregon Health & Science University, obtained an authorization from PacificSource that same day and my husband had surgery in Portland within days.

Post-surgery, the oncologist recommended a year of immunotherapy. Again, he obtained authorization for this very expensive therapy within days, and we had no problems going forward. My husband received outstanding care from the Summit Medical oncology team and responsive service from PacificSource. The only “hurdles” in obtaining care came from St. Charles in this case. It’s extremely hard to believe that Central Oregon seniors will be forced to change to a likely much more expensive Medigap plan whose costs are determined by age and health issues unlike Medicare Advantage due to our only hospital’s claim that it “hasn’t lived up to its promise.”

— Sandy Dwight, Bend

Do you have a point you’d like to make or an issue you feel strongly about? Submit a letter to the editor.