Rick Balestra, MD
Pulmonary Disease · Portland, ORNPI 1184824351
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by education: $6,000 of the $9,762 with a category attached, or 61.5%. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 75.2% of it on its own, with 5 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $4,297 and has fallen 84.9% since, to $649 in 2024. Among pulmonary disease clinicians in OR with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 18 payments — averaging $542.34 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$7K
- Pulmonx Corporation$1K
- Getinge USA Sales, LLC$625
- Johnson & Johnson$447
- GSK$52
- AstraZeneca$16
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,41435%
- Food & beverage$3484%
- Education$6,00061%
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 9 | $7,340 |
| Pulmonx Corporation | 3 | $1,282 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $625 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $447 |
| GSK | 2 | $52 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $16 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$4,218
- ION$3,000
- Pulmonx Endobronchial Valve EBV$1,282
- Vasoview Hemopro 2$625
- MONARCH$447
How this compares
$9,762 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 154 pulmonary disease providers in Oregon.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 95 | $81,419 |
| NucalaMepolizumab | 17 | $58,321 |
| Dupixent SyringeDupilumab | 14 | $48,879 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 23 | $15,775 |
| Anoro ElliptaUmeclidinium Brm/Vilanterol Tr | 19 | $9,555 |
| Advair HfaFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol | 16 | $6,482 |
| Fluticasone-SalmeterolFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol | 48 | $6,286 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 11 | $5,536 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 77 | $3,136 |
| Ventolin HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 24 | $1,964 |
| Azithromycin | 30 | $304 |
| Gabapentin | 25 | $282 |
| Fluticasone Propionate | 16 | $258 |
| Prednisone | 28 | $134 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Nucala, Anoro Ellipta, Breo Ellipta | $52 | $154,830142 claims |
| AstraZenecaBreztri Aerosphere | $16 | $15,77523 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 90th percentile of 154 pulmonary disease providers in Oregon.
Other pulmonary disease in Portland
- Stephen YauPortland$984K
- Matthew DrakePortland$135K
- Peter LeePortland$98K
- Jordan FeinPortland$87K
- Granthem FarrPortland$66K
- David HotchkinPortland$65K
- Jeffrey RobinsonPortland$51K
- Steven SearsPortland$21K
- Melvin MorganrothPortland$14K
- Christina MacrostyPortland$13K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.