Nearly five years after the Great Recession officially ended, more than one in five Oregonians continues to rely on food stamps, and nearly 17 percent live in poverty. Rural Oregon counties continue to fare the worst, with food stamps and Medicaid rates exceeding 30 percent in Jefferson and Josephine counties. In some timber-reliant counties, the poverty rate exceeds 20 percent. The Oregonian mapped state and county unemployment, poverty, food stamps, welfare and Medicaid rates using January 2014 numbers from the Oregon Department of Human Services. The figures show slight improvements from last summer, when The Oregonian last mapped poverty by county. But it’s clear that the state continues to struggle and that rural Oregon continues to be left behind in the recovery.
www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/04/pove….html
Tag Archives: medicaid
The separation of powers in our Constitution is very clear!!
Back in 2009 (when the democrats had super majorities) we created the Oregon Health Authority as a new state agency. We also ceded to them a lot of the authority that historically belonged to the legislative branch. Along with that we created the insurance exchange (Cover Oregon) as a public corporation, which put them outside the control of the legislature. I think we are headed for a massive train wreck and it may be by design. The reason I say this is because our Governor, and many members in the legislature truly want the complete government takeover of the health care system and this may be the way to accomplish that. I will go into more details during the February Session on this issue. I will close this with a request. I know there are many people who are fed up with government. I know there are also many people to whom one particular issue is the most important to them. What I am asking is twofold. First, stay engaged. It is more important now than at any time I can remember for the people to hold politicians accountable. Secondly, expand your interest beyond your singularly most important issue. I still believe you can do a better job of running your life than the government can, and we are losing these essential freedoms.
Legislator proposes shutting down Cover Oregon!!
Rep. Dennis Richardson of Central Point said he’ll propose that Oregon hand over its exchange to the federal government, which runs the operation for 36 other states, but acknowledged that he’s unlikely to get far in the Democratic Legislature. The exchange, known as Cover Oregon, has struggled with technical glitches, and its online enrollment system still hasn’t launched. Hundreds of workers have manually processed more than 50,000 applications, but the state has little to show for the tens of millions of dollars spent on technology.
www.statesmanjournal.com/viewart/20140110/UPDATE/1…egon-
State to pay contractor $228,000 to investigate Cover Oregon website!!
Oregon will pay a private contractor $228,000 to figure out what went wrong with the launch of the state’s health care exchange website. First Data plans to spend six weeks investigating why Cover Oregon’s website failed to launch Oct. 1 and how culpable Oracle, the state’s IT contractor, was in botching the rollout. Cover Oregon launched Oct. 1 without a fully functioning website, so Oregonians seeking health insurance had to file 19-page applications and the agency had to hire or reassign 400 people to process paper applications.
www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20140110/UPDATE/1…eck=1
Just off the phone. A Cover Oregon employee who does 10 hour days locked out of computer all day required to stay.
Despite initially denying the existence of the Confidentiality Agreement, the government actors at the Oregon Health Authority have moved into dangerous territory by requiring, as a condition of obtaining taxpayer grants, that a grantee refrain from making”any false, misleading, deceptive, libelous, defamatory, or obscene statements, written or oral,” about a private-sector company doing business with the state. This issue would not be as troublesome if Oregon Insurance Exchange LLC dba Cover Oregon required its private sector contractors to refrain from disparaging its goods, services or products. The State of Oregon, by and through its Oregon Health Authority, is running interference for Oregon Insurance Exchange LLC dba Cover Oregon by requiring current or potential grantees receiving or seeking taxpayer money to refrain from disparaging Cover Oregon, a private sector business. This is probably not the best example of a”public-private” partnership.
oregonoracle.com/cover-oregon-cover-up
Fox’s Red Eye on Cover-Up Oregon
Cover Oregon is officially a NATIONAL laughing stock: Red Eye, the late-night talk show on Fox News, takes aim at the failed website.
While the media have been predictably slow to criticize Cover Oregon Now we Know Why!!
Third party status reports on the Cover Oregon implementation indicate the state knew as early as November 2012 that it would never meet its planned and announced October 1 deadline. Meanwhile, the state was entering into contracts with”community partners” who would do the groundwork required to implement Cover Oregon. When it became apparent that Cover Oregon would not only fail to meet its October 1 deadline, but also fail to even go live online, the state realized it had a public relations catastrophe on its hands that even a $28 million ad campaign could not cover over.
oregonoracle.com/cover-oregon-cover-up
Cover Oregon Cover Up!!
In September of this year, Rocky King, then Executive Director of Cover Oregon, warned state legislators at a joint committee that the planned October 1 roll-out of the program would not go as planned.”It’s not going to be a beautiful implementation,” confessed King, in what should earn King the”Understatement of the Year” award. Indeed, the implementation of Cover Oregon has been an unmitigated disaster, despite $300 million of federal tax dollars poured into the program.
oregonoracle.com/cover-oregon-cover-up
Reminder Obamacare passed without a single Republican vote!!
Back in 2009 and 2010, Democrats controlled the White House and the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rammed Obamacare through without a single Republican vote. The Washington Post said of the Obamacare fight at the time”It has inflamed the partisanship that Obama pledged to tame when he campaigned for the White House and has limited Congress’s ability to pass any other major legislation.” In December 2009, the U.S. Senate voted 60 to 39 for Obamacare. The Washington Post reported”The Senate bill passed without a single GOP vote.” In March 2010, the U.S. House voted 219 to 212 for Obamacare. 34 House Democrats and all of the House Republicans voted against Obamacare. The NO votes were the only bipartisan votes.
oregoncatalyst.com/25561-reminder-obamacare-passed…alyst)
Why is private sector health insurance MODA pushing some of the costs of a disabled kid to taxpayers?
HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. — An insurance company (MODA) paid for a disabled kid’s nursing care in Happy Valley until it realized Medicaid – essentially taxpayers – covers that type of care and could pick up the tab. Then, the insurance stopped. That tab to taxpayers now totals $117,000. Why is private sector health insurance MODA pushing some of the costs of a disabled kid to taxpayers?
Eleven-year-old Javad Mashinchi has had a muscular disorder since birth. He eats through a tube and needs help from a nurse to get ready for school. His family needs that help because both parents work full-time. The Mashinchis are double insured in health coverage, so they cover Javad’s healthcare under mom Shannon’s plan. She’s a middle school math teacher.
The insurance provider, ODS, now known as Moda Health, decided a year and a half ago that it wasn’t going to cover Javad’s nurse anymore. Moda Health officials said they wanted Medicaid, through the Oregon Health Plan, to start footing the bill. When KATU investigators first intervened last year, Moda Health relented and said the care could continue. But it only lasted six more months – until the company decided again to cancel it.”What burned me is when they renamed the Rose Garden,” Shannon Mashinchi said.”You can’t cover my nursing benefits for the year, but you can spend $40 million to have your name on the outside of the Rose Garden?
www.katu.com/news/investigators/Insurance-stops-fo….html
www.katu.com/news/investigators/Insurance-stops-fo…p;c=y
Tim McMenamin 