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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2010)
Page 11 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 21, 2010 Insurance options expanded in Oregon The Oregon Health Au- thority (OHA) is launching a federally funded insurance plan, allowing people with existing health conditions to purchase medical insurance. The new insurance pool adds another option for un- insured Oregonians with existing medical conditions to purchase health insurance in addition to the existing Oregon Medical Insurance Pool (OMIP). “There is now another health insurance option for Oregonians with pre- existing conditions who have been denied coverage,” said Tina Edlund, deputy director of the Oregon Health Authority. “This fed- erally funded program will be available until 2014, when insurers no longer will be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing condi- tions.” To qualify for the new high-risk pool, an individual must have been uninsured for a minimum of six months, have an existing medical condition and be a U.S. citizen or legally pre- sent. Applications are avail- able now and coverage may begin as early as Aug. 1. Premiums will range from $221 to $714 each month, based on age range and plan choice. These premiums would be higher if there were no federal subsidy. There will be a choice of two compre- hensive medical and pre- scription drug coverage plans, which will include a deductible of either $500 or $750. Both plan options will have an annual out-of- pocket limit of $5,950. For those who have been unin- sured for less than six months or who otherwise do not meet the federal pool eligibility requirements, OMIP remains available. Recent federal health reform legislation provides funding for this temporary high-risk insurance pool. A new health insurance ex- change, a central market- place for health insurance that provides one-stop shop- ping for individuals and small businesses, will be available by 2014, said Ed- lund. To apply for the new insurance pool, go to: www.omip.state.or.us or phone 800-848-7280. Demand for the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) is so high that the state is main- taining a reservation list of people who want to apply for it, then drawing from that list. The next drawing was set for Wednesday, July 21. People whose names are drawn receive an appli- cation packet that asks them questions about income and residency that determine if they are qualified for OHP. To be added to the reserva- tion list, low-income Orego- nians should phone 800-699 -9075 or 711 TTY, or visit www.ohplist.oregon. gov. Unclaimed WaMu funds held by Oregon agency The state of Oregon received $3.85 million due Oregon residents from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as a result of Wash- i n g t o n Mu t u a l b a n k (WaMu) going into receiv- ership in September 2008. Although Chase Bank assumed most of WaMu’s active accounts, the FDIC is handling the accounts that appeared to be inactive -- those with no record of a deposit, withdrawal or other positive contact with the account holder for at least three years. In April 2010, Chase made a final attempt to con- tact dormant account hold- ers, informing them of the impending transfer of funds to the FDIC. Former WaMu custom- ers in Oregon who might have funds available for claim can search for their name at oregonstatelands.us (click on Unclaimed Prop- erty Name Search). Claims take 90 to 120 days to proc- ess. The state’s unclaimed property program is housed in the Dept. of State Lands. It will hold the WaMu funds for 10 years and make ef- forts to return the funds to Oregon owners. After 10 years, any remaining money must be returned to the FDIC. All unclaimed property is held in the Common School Fund, a trust fund for Oregon schools. Earn- ings from the fund are dis- tributed to K-12 public school districts twice a year. During 2010, schools will receive $50.4 million. Inmate Lonnie Bourgo (left) and Josephine County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) Deputy Dwayne Durham thin carrot seedlings in a raised-bed garden inside an evacuation yard at Josephine County Jail. The garden, dubbed the Tony Corriea Correctional Garden, was developed with the assistance of Greenleaf Nurs- ery, the Josephine County Food Bank and JoCo Master Gar- deners, and will give inmates the opportunity to provide Richardson warns of state spending crisis By SCOTT JORGENSEN IVN Staff Writer Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point), a member of the budget-writing Ways & Means Committee, continues to sound the alarm about the levels of state government spending. Richardson addressed the state government’s worsening revenue condition in a July 2 newsletter to constituents. State spending has grown by 46 percent during the past two budgets, Richardson wrote. The problem, he said, is that “there certainly has not been a 46 percent increase in revenue.” In that time, the state’s all-funds budget has grown from $41 billion to $60 bil- lion, Richardson said. The budget for the current 2009- 11 biennium required the use of $1.6 billion of one-time money in order to be bal- anced,” he said. That $1.6 billion includes federal money through the American Recovery and Re- investment Act, Richardson added, “which ends at the end of this year.” Oregon’s latest revenue forecast showed an $891 mil- lion decrease for the remain- der of the biennium, meaning that the state is $577 million short of meeting its obliga- tions between now and July 2011. Part of the problem, Richardson said, is that 93 percent of the state’s revenue comes from personal and cor- porate income taxes, but un- employment remains higher than the national average. He noted that the state’s public sector has hired 4,300 government workers since November 2007, when the private sector was hemor- rhaging thousands of jobs. “When we’re spending three out of every four dollars Looking for the Perfect Gift? No hidden costs Low maintenance Always welcome Lasts an entire year Send the Illinois Valley News www.facebook.com/ivnews fresh food for themselves and needy members of the com- munity. Sheriff Gil Gilbertson said that the jail’s food vendor would buy some of the produce, the rest would go to the food bank. Eventually, the sheriff would like to turn another two acres of jail property into garden plots. Said Deputy Dur- ham ‘It’s a fun project, gives them something to do other than sit in their cells.’ (Photo by Michelle Binker, I.V. News ) 541-592-2541 of the general fund budget on wages, and the public sector unions want wages and bene- fits to go up, we’re not going to have meaningful reform until we change the way we view the budgeting process,” Richardson said. Many state agencies have seen drastic increases in their budgets during the past few years, Richardson said. The Dept. of Energy went from a $102 million budget in the 2005-07 bien- nium to $259 million, he said, a 152 percent increase. The Dept. of Lands went from $19 to $33 million, a 68 per- cent increase; the Dept. of Human Services went from $10 to $16 billion, a 60 per- cent increase. Also, the Dept. of Envi- ronmental Quality went from $303 to $401 million, a 32 percent increase; the Dept. of Transportation went from $2.8 to $4 billion, a 41 per- cent increase; and the gover- nor’s office went from $10 to $17 million, a 58 percent in- crease, Richardson said. Oregon is the only state that pays the entire group insurance premiums for its employees and family bene- fits, Richardson said, adding that the monthly costs per state employee are $1,100 for medical and $80 for dental insurance. Having state employees pay a quarter of the cost could percent in the 2011-13 bien- nium, and will consume be- tween $400 and $500 million of state funds. (Full disclosure: IVN News Editor Scott Jorgensen served as an aide to Rep. Richardson during the 2005 legislative session). free up between $262 and $350 million, Richardson explained. Also looming for the state is an increase in costs for the Public Employees Retire- ment System. Richardson said that the costs for the pro- gram are set to increase by 60 BERNIE BISHOP maz D a service@bbmazda.com www.bbmazda.com (541) 469-3126 (800) 707-3126 Fax (541) 469-9090 Cell (541) 661-2624 365 Wharf St. • P.O. Box 1062 Brookings, OR 97415 A NTHONY S MALLEY General Manager CX-9
