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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1999)
Editor in chief: Tim Pyle Newsroom: (541)346-5511 Room 300, Erb Memorial Union P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403 E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu On-line edition: www.dailyemerald.com Republican lawmakers in Salem are out of line in attempts to cut low income students from the Oregon Health Plan D id you hear the one about the college student who became sickly ill, then had to drop out of school because she didn’t have proper health insurance? Sorry, there is no punch line be cause that potential scenario is no joke. In fact, if Republican lawmakers in Salem have their way and elimi nate low-income students from the Oregon Health Plan, the above script will likely become a common occurrence. The GOP says it can save the state about $3.4 million by yank ing coverage from 1,700 students. To be eligible for the OHP, a stu dent must be uninsured, meet the plan’s income requirements and also qualify for a Pell Grant, which puts that person pretty low on the income scale. Individ uals must earn no more than a three-month average of $687 per month, based on the month they apply and the two previous months. A family of three is al lowed to make a measly $1,157. Cutting health access for this group is like operating without anesthesia: it’s definitely going to hurt like hell. Do you wanna know the truly sneaky aspect behind this whole idea? The legislators waited until spring term ended, when most students had either already gradu ated or put their brains on autopi lot for the summer, before they announced the cuts. Talk about pulling a fast one. In addition to a backstabbing approach, at least one politician took a patronizing tone with the issue and its intended victims. Sen. Eileen Qutub, (R-Beaverton), chairwoman of the Human Re sources Subcommittee of the Joint Ways and Mean Committee, said last week, “[Students] just are a less-vulnerable population. They get riled up real quick because they’re young and can be easily influenced.” You know, if the state Legislature had fewer / extraneous subcommittees for every damn suspicious-sounding committee, maybe there would be more money in the budget. Students have a few do-good ers working for the status quo. Gov. John Kitzhaber wants to keep students on the plan, ac cording to Mark Gibson, policy adviser for health care and hu man resources. Also, Oregon Student Association representa tives are speaking their mind while encouraging others to do the same. Last Wednesday, OSA held a press conference in Salem with speakers from three differ ent state schools. “This could be forcing [stu dents] to choose between com prehensive health care and their education,” said Kellie Shoemak er, legislative director for OSA. In addition, some Democrats are standing up to the big baddies from the dark side. “Students have to be eligible for the Pell Grant, which means that they are really poor,” said Rep. Barbara Ross, D-Corvallis. “They don’t have a lot of re sources.” To those who are in the students’ comer, we thank you from the bot tom of our wallets. This isn’t the first time stu dents have been sliced from the OHP. In 1995, lawmakers carried out the deed, but strong lobbying efforts put students back on in 1997. Now, two years later, it’s dejfi vu all over again. Frankly, this on-again, off-again activity is a little dizzying and quite nauseat ing. Don’t worry about us students, however. We’ll just take two aspirin and apply for bankruptcy in the morning. This editorial represents the opinion of the Emerald editorial board. Responses may be sent to ode@oregon. uoregon .edu. Jo£tt/a/‘ hij hurtle H(Ai> 0UT$£ $Fm„ tiiALTH ] if**** 'AtspiOtice PLAN Letters to the Editor CORRECTION In the July 8 article “Senate hears money matters,” it should have read “ASUO Vice Presi dent Mitra Anoushiravani.” Qutub off the mark Statements made by state Sen. Eileen Qutub in a Register-Guard article on Tues day, July 6, on students losing coverage un der the Oregon Health Plan are as out landish as the policy decision to ax students themselves. “They just are a less-vulnerable popula tion,” Qutub said. This is simply not true, when one be comes a student they do not take on super human characteristics. In fact, we have the same problems as any other citizen in the state of Oregon — we get sick, sometimes to the extreme that it creates a need for care be yond the capability of our campus or per sonal resources. I am glad that she has “nothing against students,” however, she has proved that she has absolutely nothing for us either. Would you attend school if you were a low-income student with a preexisting condition that needed special care if there was no way to receive health coverage? For many students the answer to this is no. As Qutub notes, higher education did get a lot this session — an expected in crease in the Oregon University System's budget and a tuition freeze. These were long over due, as tuition rose more than 80 percent this decade and funding for universities dropped, of course we need ed this budget. That does not justify tak ing money away from students across the board, however. Furthermore, we do have to worry about students enrolled at community colleges or private institu tions as well. As the song says, come on Eileen. Matt Swanson State Affairs Coordinator, ASUO LETTERS POLICY The Oregon Daily Emerald wl attempt to printaH letters contain ing comments on top ics of interestto the University community. Ljetters must be limited to 250words. The Emerald reserves the rightto edit any letter for length, clarity, grammar, style and li bel. Letters may be dropped off at EMJ Suite300. The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emer ald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald operates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private property. The unlawful re moval or use of papers is prosecutable by law. NEWSROOM — (541)346-5511 Editor in chief: Tim Pyle Associate Editors: Jack Clifford, Mirjam Swanson Reporters: Sara Jarrett, Sara Lieberth Webmaster: Broc Nelson Paginator: Broc Nelson Photo Editor: Catharine Kendall ADVERTISING — (541H46-5511 Becky Merchant, director Melissa O’Connell, Van Nguyen, advertising assistants. Rachelle Bowden, Brian Diamond, Dan Hageman, Jesse Long, Adam Rice, advertising sales representatives CLASSIFIEDS — (541) 346-4343 Trina Shanaman, manager BUSINESS — (541) S46-SS12 Judy Riedl, general manager Kathy Carbone, business supervisor Melissa O’Connell, receptionist Roni Goldbeck, Michael Higgins, John Long, distribution PRODUCTION — (541) 346-4381 Michele Ross, manager. Tara Sloan, coordinator
