10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2016
Plane: The FAA, NTSB are investigating the crash
Continued from Page 1A
but for our community as
a whole,” Bergin said in a
statement.
McKibbin and Mustain had
Àown out of Pearson Field Air-
port in Vancouver on Wednes-
day to scatter the ashes of Mus-
tain’s husband on what would
have been his th birthday.
Eyewitnesses spotted the
plane go down about a mile
north of Pier in Astoria late
Wednesday afternoon.
The U.S. Coast Guard did
aerial searches Wednesday and
Thursday but suspended efforts
Thursday evening, though
agency personnel continued to
assist the Sheriff’s Of¿ce.
The circumstances sur-
rounding the crash are
unNnown at this time, Allen
Kenizter, a Federal Avia-
tion Administration spoNes-
man, said. The FAA and the
National Transportation Safety
Board are investigating the
incident.
Photo courtesy of Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office
Divers found a plane that crashed into the Columbia River.
Contract ‘error’ pushes foster Widdop: ‘I’m
going to be able
home program over budget
By HILLARY BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SALEM — The Oregon
Health Authority negotiated a
faulty methodology to calcu-
late payments to foster homes
caring for adults with mental
illnesses inÀating costs
million over budget and jeopar-
dizing the program.
Managers at the health
authority discovered the prob-
lem almost immediately after
the inÀated payments began in
-anuary but it tooN two
years for the state to rein in costs
because the rate methodology
was written into a contract with
the union representing foster
home operators. Reduced rates
tooN effect in -anuary amid out-
cry from providers who said the
reduction in pay would force
some of them to close.
Rather than paying rates
based on the actual level of care
needed, the health authority
paid rates on each client equal
to the rates paid for patients
in secure residential treatment
facilities, which house people
who require a higher level of
services including some of the
more serious cases of people
found guilty except for insanity
by the courts.
Twice as much for
services
As a result, the state paid the
average home twice as much
as before for the same level of
services.
It’s unclear how the rate
structure was negotiated, and
why its impact caught the state
by surprise.
Lynne Saxton, director of
the Oregon Health Authority,
attributed the payment increase
to a “calculation error.” She
told lawmaNers last month
that “without the right-sizing
of rates, the program can be in
jeopardy as it’s unsustainable
¿nancially.”
Emails released by the Ore-
gon Health Authority appear to
support Saxton’s description of
the rate hiNe as an error.
A weeN after the new meth-
odology tooN effect in -anu-
ary , mid-level manag-
ers at the agency were already
alarmed that adult foster
home costs were beginning to
sNyrocNet.
“We need to address this!”
Trevor Douglass, a Medicaid
manager, wrote in a January
email to another Medic-
aid manager, Don Ross. “You
will see a trend of substantial
increases,” Douglass wrote,
referring to an attached doc-
ument with a sample of data
on foster homes that were on
tracN to receive larger pay-
ments. “That can’t avoid a bud-
get impact. My hair is smolder-
ing, not on ¿re.”
Ross responded within
minutes.
“These are outrageous,”
Ross wrote, referring to the
foster homes’ rate increase
requests. “How did we end up
on a provider-driven methodol-
ogy, with no ceiling, for Janu-
ary "” Ross said the Ore-
gon Health Authority should hit
the braNes until the agency bet-
ter understood what was hap-
pening. “The exposure built
into this is Nind of unprece-
dented during my time here,”
Ross wrote.
Negotiations with union
The state ultimately paid the
higher rates while negotiating
a new payment structure with
the Service Employees Interna-
tional Union, which represents
operators. A union representa-
tive did not respond to a request
for comment.
The foster homes, which can
each house up to ¿ve residents,
had gone from receiving an aver-
age of , from the state in
before the rate change, to
nearly , in .
The state estimated that
with revisions, adult fos-
ter homes will receive on aver-
age , this year.
The payment reductions
prompted foster home opera-
tors to criticize the union for
agreeing to the new rate meth-
odology. Foster home operators
told lawmaNers last month that
the state should ¿nd the money
to pay them the higher rates
that were in place for the last
two years.
April Gunter, an adult fos-
ter care provider in Washing-
ton County, was one of several
industry members who warned
lawmaNers that homes would
shut down unless the state
returns to the higher rates.
“You Nnow that these peo-
ple will be out on the streets,”
Gunter said, referring to adult
foster home residents. “The
bottom line is we have to ¿nd
a resolution for it, resolution
meaning you guys have to ¿nd
the money somewhere to fund
us ...”
A lot of work
Foster home operators told
lawmaNers that it taNes a lot of
worN to care for their residents,
and in at least one case the addi-
tional money in and
allowed a provider to expand
services by purchasing a new
van to drive residents to com-
munity events.
Although the new payment
structure remains in place, the
state is now bargaining with the
union over an existing “excep-
tional needs rate,” which could
allow some foster homes to
receive more money from the
state if the rate increases or it
becomes easier for residents to
qualify.
The rate, which was already
in the current and previous con-
tracts, applies in temporary sit-
uations when residents require
a higher level of care, such as
when a resident who lives at a
foster home due to severe per-
sistent mental illness breaNs
his or her leg and temporarily
requires additional assistance,
Douglass said.
According to Douglass, the
health authority returned to the
bargaining table after the union
¿led a grievance because the
union and health authority did
not bargain for a new excep-
tional needs rate during con-
tract negotiations last year.
The Capital Bureau is a col-
laboration between EO Media
Group and Pamplin Media
Group.
Testimony prompts looN
into adult foster home
By HILLARY
BORRUD
Capital Bureau
SALEM — An adult
foster home operator who
told lawmaNers last month
that she had to scrimp on
food purchases for resi-
dents is now under inves-
tigation by the Oregon
Health Authority.
Teri Petre, who operates
two homes for adults with
mental illnesses in Mar-
ion County, told lawmaN-
ers she spent only ,
on food for nine residents
in January, after the state
revised payment rates to
control costs. The
monthly foster rates range
from , to , per
person depending upon the
client’s level of needs, plus
in monthly rent.
Petre’s testimony was
worrying for state Sen.
Sara Gelser, D-Corvallis,
who asNed state employ-
ees to looN into the situa-
tion, according to emails
released by the state.
Gelser cited her statutory
obligation as a lawmaNer
to report potential abuse.
After Gelser raised the
issue, an employee of the
Oregon Health Authority,
which licenses the homes,
¿led a report of potential
abuse and the agency is
now investigating.
Petre said on Friday
that no one from the state
had contacted her about
an investigation, but she
expected any inquiry
would clear her of wrong-
doing. “I haven’t heard
anything about that,” Petre
said. “They have plenty of
food. My goodness.”
The state scaled bacN
payments to the foster
homes this year after a
change in the rate method-
ology two years ago caused
payments to the homes on
average to double.
OHA had agreed to the
rate structure in a contract
with the union that rep-
resents the foster home
operators, so the agency
could not change the pay-
ments until it negotiated
a new contract that tooN
effect in . The pro-
gram went million
over budget and OHA
director Lynne Saxton told
lawmaNers the state had to
rein in payments to sustain
the foster homes into the
future.
The agency ran into
¿erce opposition after
many foster home opera-
tors realized they would
face pay cuts this year.
Petre and other provid-
ers crowded into a legisla-
tive committee hearing last
month, where some tes-
ti¿ed that lower payment
rates would force them to
shut down. Some, includ-
ing Petre, also submitted
written testimony.
“January was our ¿rst
month of receiving the
new rates,” Petre wrote. “I
came into the negative of
about ,. I was only
able to spend a total of
, for food between
the two homes. I prepared
for the change and stocNed
up last month. I prepared
to use my savings to cover
the cost of my homes to
Neep things running this
month. After this month
my resources will not be
able to be used to sus-
tain the homes on my own
cost.”
In an interview Friday,
Petre said the residents
always had enough food
because she stocNed up.
“It does not mean people
are not getting fed,” Petre
said of her testimony. Petre
declined to say how much
the state paid her to care
for foster home residents
in recent years, saying she
would have to review her
records.
She and her husband
lived and worNed in both
of their foster homes, until
they closed one home a
couple days ago because of
the reduction in state pay-
ments. Providers who live
in the homes are exempt
from federal and state
income taxes on the state
payments, as well as prop-
erty taxes.
Petre said she had noti-
¿ed many of the other fos-
ter home operators around
the state of the impend-
ing pay cut. “This is basi-
cally coming from a retal-
iation from Oregon Health
Authority,” Petre said.
Petre was not the only
provider whose testimony
Gelser found to be trou-
bling last month, although
it appears only Petre’s
testimony triggered an
investigation.
In an effort to demon-
strate the amount of worN
necessary to care for res-
idents, foster home oper-
ators submitted personal
information about their
clients — case notes,
medical records and
embarrassing information
about residents’ behavior
— into the public record.
Those documents were
uploaded to the Oregon
Legislature’s website until
Gelser complained to state
of¿cials that the mate-
rials violated a federal
law that protects patient
information.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group. Hillary Bor-
rud can be reached at 503-
364-4431 or hborrud@
eomediagroup.com.
to enjoy life’
Continued from Page 1A
In that election, Widdop
narrowly defeated oppo-
nent Bob Shortman. After
a recount, only five votes
separated the candidates.
In , Widdop faced
a recall challenge after
Gearhart resident Harold
Gable claimed “abuse of
leadership, lacN of trans-
parency and strong per-
sonal bias.”
Voters supported Wid-
dop in the March
special election, with
percent of voters opposing
the mayor’s recall.
After the vote, Widdop
said she was glad there
was a large margin.
“There is no question
as to how people have felt
about this,” she said at the
time.
This weeN, Widdop
said she did not Nnow who
would follow her as mayor,
“but there is someone
we’ve been talNing to.”
Councilors Sue Lorain,
who tooN Widdop’s posi-
tion on the council in ,
and Dan Jesse, who ran and
won in , are also up for
re-election in Gearhart.
Candidates have until
mid-August to ¿le for the
November mayoral election.
As for Widdop, her
post-mayoral plans are
uncertain. “I’m going to be
able to enjoy life, be off the
hot seat, go to a City Coun-
cil meeting, sit in the bacN
and voice my opinion,” she
said.
Hrubes: Astoria’s
arts bent drew her here
Continued from Page 1A
She and her fiancé, Rob
Kovatch, who still man-
ages the Web pages for
radio stations in Billings,
started thinNing last year
about moving to the Pacific
Northwest. She first vis-
ited Astoria on a road trip,
and the two came out in
June for the Goonies’ th
anniversary, stayed for the
weeN and learned more
about the community. She
learned of the college’s
communications and mar-
Neting position online,
got the call and tooN the
leap into a new home
away from home. She and
Kovatch have been explor-
ing and enjoying Astoria’s
winter events, such as Fort
George Brewery’s Festival
of DarN Arts and the Fish-
erPoets Gathering.
“There’s cowboy poets
in Montana,” Hrubes said
of the Miles City BucNing
Horse Sale, which draws
cowboy poets from afar. “I
thinN it holds the record for
most alcohol consumed in
one weeNend somewhere.”
The artistic bent of Asto-
ria especially appeals to
Hrubes, who minored in art,
worNs mostly in oils and
originally intended to be an
art instructor. In Billings,
Hrubes was also a belly
dancing instructor, a part of
her life she said has been on
hiatus while she learns her
new job.
When Astoria Sunday
MarNet starts on Mother’s
Day, she said the college
will have a booth, which
she will personally appear at
least once a month, “putting
CCC into the community,
rather than maNing them
come seeN us out.”
— Edward Stratton
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