Appeal Tribune Wednesday, October 18, 2017 3A
Oregon to join suit over Obamacare
CONNOR RADNOVICH
STATESMAN JOURNAL
Oregon is joining a
group of state attorneys
general filing suit against
the federal government to
stop the Trump admini-
stration from halting bil-
lions in Obamacare subsi-
dy payments to insurance
companies.
Oregon Attorney Gen-
eral Ellen Rosenblum said
in a statement Friday that
Oregon and 15 other states
are joining California's
lawsuit against President
Donald Trump and the
White House's "rash, ill-
conceived decision."
"The President should
be in the business of help-
ing — not wrecking —
Americans' financial bot-
tom lines and access to
quality health care," Ro-
senblum said. "We de-
serve better from our
leader."
The lawsuit comes a
day after a late-night fil-
ing to the District of Co-
lumbia Circuit of the U.S.
Court of Appeals, in which
the Department of Health
and Human Services said
it would halt the so-called
cost-sharing
reduction
payments because they
weren't being appropri-
ately funded.
The filing included a le-
gal opinion from U.S. At-
torney General Jeff Ses-
sions expressing that con-
clusion, largely rested
upon the lack of ex-
pressed congressional ap-
propriation for those pay-
ments.
Cost sharing payments
help reimburse insurance
companies that provide
cheaper co-pays and de-
ductibles on health insur-
ance to low-income indi-
viduals. The Congression-
al Budget Office estimat-
ed there would be $7
billion in payments in
2017.
In a separate state-
ment, the Department of
Health and Human Ser-
vices said the payments
would be stopped "imme-
diately." The next pay-
ment is scheduled for Oct.
18.
Following this deci-
sion, California's Attor-
ney General Xavier Be-
cerra said he would file
suit and, since, other at-
torneys general nation-
wide have announced
their support.
On Twitter, Becerra
called stopping the pay-
ments "reckless and sabo-
tage."
President Trump has
threatened for months to
end the payments and on
Friday described them as
"almost a payoff" to insur-
ance companies.
America’s Health In-
surance Plans and Blue
Cross Blue Shield re-
leased a joint statement
saying there would be
"real consequences" from
the decision.
"This action will make
it harder for patients to
access the care they need.
Costs will go up and
choices will be restrict-
ed," the statement said.
Oregon's Democratic
senators also came out
against the administra-
tion's decision. Sen. Ron
Wyden said stopping the
payments would raise
costs and goes against one
of Trump's main promises
to make insurance more
affordable.
“After making pay-
ments for the past nine
months, the president has
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said that Oregon and 15 other states are joining
California's lawsuit against President Donald Trump and the White House's "rash, ill-conceived
decision." ASSOCIATED PRESS
must end immediately,"
he said.
Contact the reporter at
cradnovich@statesman-
journal.com or 503-399-
6864, or follow him on
Twitter at @CDRadnov-
ich.
ly sabotage the country's
health care system.
"Access to health care
is a life-or-death issue. Pe-
riod. This despicable sab-
otage campaign is the def-
inition of playing politics
with people’s lives, and it
decided to pull out the rug
from under families who
simply want affordable
health care,” Wyden said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Jeff
Merkley said that this is
just the latest attempt by
the White House to active-
Barn dance at Oregon
App could help save
cardiac arrest victims Garden on tap for Oct. 21
SILVERTON – For the
seventh year in a row, the
Oregon Garden is holding
its annual dance and bar-
becue in the Great Hall.
Dance the night away,
enjoy food and drinks,
and listen to country mu-
sic from 6 to 11 p.m. on
Saturday, Oct. 21.
Dance tickets are $25
presale and $22 for Gar-
den Members; this in-
cludes admission, line
dance lessons, and one
beer. Dinner and dancing
tickets are $40 presale
and $37 for Garden Mem-
bers.; this includes din-
ner by Adam’s Rib
Smokehouse.
Overnight packages
are also available at the
Oregon Garden Resort,
just steps from the event.
Visit http://www.ore-
C.J. Nugent twirls his girlfriend, Amanda Smith, both of
Lebanon, during last year’s Barn Dance at the Oregon
Garden. This year’s event is planned for Oct. 21, 6 to 11 p.m.
ANNA REED / STATESMAN JOURNAL
gongarden.org/events/
barn-dance/ for more de-
tails and to purchase
tickets. Double “H” West-
ern Wear is a major spon-
sor.
nity out of what has been
a friendly small town
community.
If you don’t like being
in a rural area, then stay
in Portland or Salem.
Deer have been a part of
Silverton forever.
Yes, they can be pests
at times, but I’ve never
heard of anyone here be-
ing attacked by one. Your
neighbor’s off-leash dog
is more dangerous than
an deer.
How could the idea of
two curious deer going
with you on a morning
run do anything but make
you smile? Enjoy the fact
that you live in a town
where people are still
kind enough to stop at in-
tersections and let the
doe and her fawn cross
the street safely.
Doris Robinson
Silverton
LETTERS
SPECIAL TO THE APPEAL TRIBUNE
The area’s 911 call cen-
ter, based in Woodburn, is
seeking donations from
the community to pur-
chase a system that con-
nects skilled members of
the public with anyone
undergoing cardiac ar-
rest.
Pulse Point, is a sys-
tem that METCOM 9-1-1
staff would like to add to
their computer-aided dis-
patch console. Because of
its cost – $42,250 – they’re
asking donors to help.
The cost to users of the
Pulse Point system would
be free, however. Anyone
with an iPhone or An-
droid can download the
app, which allows him or
her to see active fire and
medical emergency calls
of any nature for any
agency. It also includes
radio transmissions. In a
cardiac event, every sec-
ond is precious. Even
modern EMS agencies
benefit from the public
stepping in and helping in
these cases.
The American Heart
Association
estimates
that effective bystander
CPR – including com-
pression-only CPR – can
double or triple a victim's
chance of survival.
If there is a cardiac ar-
rest in the area of a user
with the app, it will show
where AED's (Automatic
External Defibrillators)
are located and provide
instructions for CPR and
AED usage. The user may
be able to respond and
help until units can arrive
on scene.
In the first 6 months of
2017, METCOM has re-
ceived 133 calls for ser-
vice that were coded as
"cardiac arrest," in which
CPR would likely have
been indicated, accord-
ing to a news release.
Anyone interested in
making a tax-deductible
donation [Tax ID: 93-
1179507] can write a
check referencing "MET-
COM Pulse Point,” and
mail to the call center,
take it to any local fire
district, or drop it at a Co-
lumbia Bank branch.
Mail donations
METCOM 911
1060 Mt. Hood Ave
Woodburn, OR 97071
LOW COST CREMATION & BURIAL
Simple Cremation $595
NO Hidden Costs
TUALATIN
SALEM
8970 SW Tualatin Sherwood Rd
412 Lancaster Drive NE
(503) 885-7800
(503) 581-6265
PORTLAND
TIGARD
832 NE Broadway
12995 SW Pacifi c Hwy
(503) 783-3393
(503) 783-6869
EASTSIDE
MILWAUKIE
1433 SE 122nd Ave
17064 SE McLoughlin Blvd
(503) 783-6865
(503) 653-7076
Privately owned cremation facility.
A Family Owned Oregon Business.
OR-SAL0007253-03
www.ANewTradition.com
Deer belong in
Silverton too
Only a mean-spirited
person would advocate
killing deer for trying to
survive in habitat that
was taken away by pro-
gress. (Silverton council
considers solutions to
nuisance deer, Oct. 4.)
Subdivisions and apart-
ment complexes are cre-
ating a bedroom commu-
IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH
Church Directory
METCOM 911 is looking to add Pulse Point, a system that connects skilled members of the
public with anyone undergoing cardiac arrest, to their computer-aided dispatch console.
303 N. Church Street Silverton, OR 97381
Phone: (503) 873-8656
Pastor Leah Stolte-Doerfl er
Sunday School 9:15 a.m.
Service time 10:30 a.m.
Nursery Available
Trinity Lutheran
Church, ELCA
Free Saturday Lunches
500 N 2nd Street
Silverton, OR 97381
(503) 873-2635
Sunday,
Worship 11am
www.trinitysilverton.org
trinitysilverton@gmail.com
ST. MARY’S CHURCH
Pastor: Fr. Philip Waibel
575 E. College St. 503-845-2296
Weekday Mass 6:50 a.m.
Saturday Vigil Mass 5:30 p.m.
Sunday masses 7:30 a.m., 10 a.m.,
and 12:30 p.m. (Spanish Mass) at
St. Mary Parish. Mass for Holy Rosary
Mission at Crooked Finger
is at 10:00 a.m.
Confession: 3:30 - 5:00 p.m.
on Saturday
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST
COMMUNITY CHURCH
Pastor Jose Galvez
Saturday Services
Sabbath School 9:30-10:30 am
Worship Service 10:50 am
1159 Oak Street 873-8568
Inviting All to a
Friendly Bible-Based Church
Silverton
Friends
Church
“loving God… loving others”
Pastor Bob Henry
Silverton Christian School
229 Eureka Ave. • 873-5131
silvertonfriends@frontier.com
Adult Sunday School at 9:00 am
Sunday Worship Service: 10:45 am
Full Nursery Care • Youth Group
meets Thursday 7:00 pm
OR-0000393973