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
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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
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Brookings, OR 97415
A NTHONY S MALLEY
General Manager
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