On September 1st 2025, Providence is outsourcing alternative healthcare claims and care decisions to a third-party company called ASH—putting profits over patients. This will limit access to acupuncture, chiropractic and naturopathic services, as well as massage therapy by underpaying providers, overloading them with red tape, taking over medical decision making and disallowing out of network providers from providing care to Providence members. Tell Providence to reverse this decision and protect access to care!

Providence Health Plan Members: Your Access to Care & Your Alternative Healthcare Providers Is at Risk!

Providence has quietly made a decision that will affect thousands of patients across Oregon: they’re handing off claims processing & payment and treatment approvals to a company called American Specialty Health (ASH).

ASH is not an insurance company. It’s a for-profit middleman that inserts itself between you and your provider. They limit how many visits you can have, demand constant paperwork to “justify” treatment, and often deny or delay care entirely. At the same time, they pay providers far below the cost of delivering services—sometimes just $25–$50 for an hour of care. This would represent a 50% decrease in reimbursement from previous claim payments to providers, which will significantly affect their operational viability.

If this change goes through, here’s what it could mean for you:

·       Do you get massage therapy under your physical therapy benefits (CPT code 97140)? Under ASH, that won’t be allowed.

·       Are you currently using your 12 acupuncture visits per year without needing approval? ASH adds a gatekeeper to that process.

·       Do you see an out-of-network chiropractor or naturopath and submit for reimbursement? ASH will eliminate that option entirely.

In real terms, this means:

·       You may no longer be able to see the provider you trust. Many will be forced out-of-network due to ASH’s reimbursement rates—50% lower than previous reimbursement.

·       You’ll likely face delays or denials while ASH decides whether your treatment is “medically necessary.”

·       Massage therapists will no longer be allowed to bill Providence under your physical therapy benefits. If you don’t have dedicated massage benefits, you’ll lose access—unless it’s done by a physical therapist. (P.S. An Oregon statute prohibits discrimination by provider type, but ASH is exploiting a loophole to get around it.)

·       Out-of-network benefits? Gone. ASH does not allow reimbursement for care outside their network.

·       You may have to pay out-of-pocket to keep seeing your current provider—even if you’ve been with them for years.

·       Your care decisions will be made by corporate administrators who’ve never met you, instead of by your licensed healthcare provider.

Providence claims this change is meant to “improve care” by making sure patients receive “appropriate” services—but this is about cost control, not quality. Patients are already protected by professional licensing boards and the training of their providers. We don’t need ASH in the middle.

I own a medical billing company in Oregon that works with these providers every day, and I also happen to be a Providence member. This is my industry, and I understand firsthand how confusing and convoluted insurance policies can be—often by design—so that the average member has no idea what providers go through just to get paid. That’s why I’m speaking up, and I’m asking you to join me in advocating for the people who care for us.

I’ve spoken to many providers who have had no input in this decision. Some of them are longtime in-network Providence partners who now face the impossible choice between accepting a harmful contract or leaving the network entirely.

Please help us protect access to high-quality, holistic care. We’re calling on Providence to:

• Cancel the transition to ASH for alternative care services.
• Commit to fair and direct contracts with qualified acupuncture, chiropractic, naturopathic, and massage therapy providers.
• Preserve both in-network and out-of-network coverage options.

If Providence moves forward with this decision, I will be actively advising the providers I work with not to contract with ASH—and to reconsider participating in any ASH-administered plan, including those offered by Aetna, Cigna, HealthNet, and now Providence.

This isn’t just an administrative change. It’s a direct threat to patient choice and access. Please sign and share this petition if you believe that healthcare decisions should be made by providers and patients—not by corporate administrators.