2A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 26, 2017
Oregon had no plan for
checking Medicaid eligibility
Oregon’s new system for
managing its Medicaid enroll-
ees, called ONE, has this capa-
bility, according to the Oregon
Health Authority.
But since ONE was launched
in late 2015, patients are still
being entered into the system,
due in part to disparate datasets
and a laborious initial process
that requires enrollees to com-
plete a paper application more
than 30 pages long.
And the 465 state workers
assigned to the task of re-enroll-
ment are not yet fi nished.
As a result of the prob-
lems with Cover Oregon, the
state received a series of waiv-
ers from the federal government
on performing the checks until
mid-2016. The health authority
maintains the Centers for Medi-
care and Medicaid Services are
aware of and have approved
the agency’s ongoing efforts to
resolve the backlog, despite the
current lack of a formal waiver.
One of many
shortcomings in
Cover Oregon
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE
Capital Bureau
SALEM — When Oregon
expanded access to Medicaid in
2014, it had no system in place
to perform the annual checks on
recipient eligibility required by
federal law.
That was one of the many
fl aws of Cover Oregon, a state
health care exchange also
intended to handle patient reg-
istration for Medicaid. Medic-
aid is the federal government’s
health care coverage for the poor
and disabled . In Oregon, about a
quarter of the state’s population
— approximately 1 million peo-
ple — receives it.
More than three years after
the expansion was launched
under the Affordable Care Act,
the state is scrambling to fi nish
verifying whether every Orego-
nian on Medicaid — the Ore-
gon Health Plan — meets the
criteria.
the process of being removed
from the Oregon Health Plan
because they did not respond to
the state’s termination warnings.
Although the health author-
ity emphasizes the process is
now about 90 percent com-
plete, the remaining 10 percent
has come to the attention of the
state’s top auditor, who released
a memo arguing that the state
could have spent millions of
dollars on people who do not
qualify for the program.
Secretary of State Den-
nis Richardson’s memo riled
up legislators on both sides of
the aisle, who are busy ham-
mering out health care budgets
and a potential tax on provid-
ers to cover some of the costs of
expanding Medicaid.
The possibility that the state
could have lost money by pay-
ing for unqualifi ed recipients
— and to clean up the data —
in its effort to provide coverage
to more people has been high-
lighted as legislators attempt to
close a $1.4 billion budget gap.
Richardson’s offi ce released
an audit Wednesday fi nding
the new ONE system functions
well when it comes to verifying
people for Medicaid. However,
Deadline
The governor has given the
health authority an Aug. 31
deadline to get about 101,000
Oregonians double-checked.
Another 14,000 people are in
FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA
TONIGHT
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
73
51
51
69
52
Mostly sunny and
pleasantly warm
Clear
Mostly sunny and
pleasant
TUESDAY
68
52
66
52
Pleasant with times of
clouds and sun
Mostly cloudy
auditors also found that man-
ual entry poses a risk to the
accuracy of eligibility deter-
minations and payments to
healthcare providers.
Simpler
The health authority says
the enrollment and rede-
termination process will
be simpler as time goes on
because the system can do
certain things automatically,
such as verifying an appli-
cant’s income by compar-
ing the application to exist-
ing datasets.
Asked whether the health
authority was equipped to
redetermine the eligibility of
the approximately 1 million
people on the Oregon Health
Plan, the agency responded
Wednesday that it has “taken
aggressive action” to verify
recipients’ eligibility since
the Cover Oregon failure.
The
agency
hired
300 temporary employ-
ees, according to a spokes-
woman. It has brought on
multiple private contrac-
tors to help with the process,
Oregon Health Authority
Director Lynne Saxton told
legislators Tuesday.
The Capital Bureau is a
collaboration between EO
Media Group and Pamplin
Media Group.
REGIONAL WEATHER
Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs.
ASTORIA
51/73
Astoria through Thursday.
Temperatures
High/low ....................................... 62°/43°
Normal high/low ........................... 62°/47°
Record high ............................ 81° in 2005
Record low ............................. 34° in 1967
Tillamook
50/71
Precipitation
Thursday .......................................... 0.00"
Month to date ................................... 5.79"
Normal month to date ....................... 2.72"
Year to date .................................... 47.03"
Normal year to date ........................ 32.76"
Salem
53/87
Newport
49/62
Sunset tonight ........................... 8:54 p.m.
Sunrise Saturday ........................ 5:31 a.m.
Moonrise today ........................... 6:44 a.m.
Moonset today ......................... 10:03 p.m.
Full
June 1
Last
June 9
Coos Bay
49/63
New
June 17
Source: Jim Todd, OMSI
TOMORROW'S TIDES
Astoria / Port Docks
Time
9:39 a.m.
9:35 p.m.
Low
-1.8 ft.
2.1 ft.
Hi
83
57
72
71
78
72
95
54
83
78
82
89
68
87
89
86
86
73
89
75
86
70
67
77
78
Today
Lo
65
53
56
47
58
57
69
33
69
63
62
68
55
74
79
69
73
60
68
58
67
48
52
56
60
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley will
hold a town hall meeting on
Sunday in Warrenton.
The Oregon Democrat is
scheduled to appear at 12:30
p.m. at Warrenton High
School. The senator also has
a town hall set for 4:30 p.m.
at St. Helens Senior Center in
Columbia County.
“In our ‘We the People’
democracy, town hall meet-
ings are an essential tool for
me to hear from Oregonians
Price holds meet-and-greet
Ontario
47/82
The Daily Astorian
Burns
37/76
All are welcome to meet with Astoria City
Councilor Cindy Price at her May Salonical.
The event is from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
Klamath Falls
40/80
Lakeview
39/77
Ashland
51/87
and represent their inter-
ests back in D.C.,” Merkley
said in a statement. “I invite
all residents of Clatsop and
Columbia counties to come
and discuss what we need to
do to strengthen our state and
our nation.”
in the Flag Room at the Astoria Library, 450
10th St.
Residents can exchange ideas and informa-
tion, ask questions and express concerns about
ongoing and proposed city projects.
ON THE RECORD
REGIONAL CITIES
City
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Eugene
Ilwaco
Klamath Falls
Medford
Newberg
Newport
North Bend
Hi
69
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60
80
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64
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Sat.
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City
Olympia
Pendleton
Portland
Roseburg
Salem
Seaside
Spokane
Springfi eld
Vancouver
Yakima
Hi
80
76
83
85
82
68
73
81
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Today
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Sat.
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Assault
• At 10:44 p.m. Wednesday, Jeanne Joe Han-
sen, 45, of Astoria, was arrested by the Astoria
Police Department on the 1800 block of Fifth
Street for fourth-degree assault. She allegedly
assaulted a male family member, who sustained
minor injuries.
DUII
• At 2:20 a.m. Thursday, Kevin J. Kel-
ley, 55, of Winchester Bay, was arrested by
the Seaside Police Department on U.S. High-
way 101 near Avenue S for driving under the
infl uence of intoxicants and refusing to take a
breath test.
MEMORIAL DAY
TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER
NATIONAL CITIES
City
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Denver
Des Moines
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Memphis
Miami
Nashville
New Orleans
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Francisco
Seattle
Washington, DC
Baker
35/77
SOUTH BEND, Wash. —
Marijuana may be legal for
adults now, but giving the drug
to a child will still land you in
prison, as one Ocean Park, Wash-
ington, woman has learned .
In a Pacifi c County Superior
Court hearing earlier this month,
Christina Lee Yanez, 36, was
sentenced to 13 months in state
prison for criminal mistreatment
and delivery of marijuana.
Yanez was arrested in
April after an ambulance crew
responded to a report of an
intoxicated 9-year-old at the
Dunes Bible Camp swimming
pool. The child was taken to
the emergency room. Deputies
learned that Yanez intentionally
gave the child a brownie laced
with “dabs,” a highly concen-
trated form of THC, the active
ingredient in marijuana. Accord-
ing to Pacifi c County Prose-
cutor Mark McClain, the child
asked for one of the brownies
Yanez’s boyfriend had made.
The boyfriend objected, saying
they were drugged and the child
should not eat them.
“Ms. Yanez decided to give
them to her child anyway,”
McClain said. “It is inexcusable
to give a 9-year-old marijuana,
regardless of how relaxed we
have become about its use.”
After eating the brownie, the
child went to the pool. Allowing
the child to swim while intoxi-
cated added to the already sig-
nifi cant risk, McClain said.
According to court records,
Yanez used “dabs” and other
forms of marijuana on a daily
basis. She will be required to
undergo drug treatment while
she is in prison. Child Protective
Services will decide whether
Yanez is allowed future contact
with her child.
Parents who use marijuana
need to be especially vigilant
about pot products that appeal
to children, including candies,
cookies and brownies, McClain
said.
According to a 2016 report
from the Washington Poison
Control Center, toxic exposures
to marijuana rose in 2014 and
2015, following the start of legal
marijuana sales in mid-2014. In
2015, the center documented
272 marijuana-related poison-
ings, most of which occurred
in the victims’ homes. About a
third of the cases involved edible
pot products. Forty-six percent
involved people under the age of
18. The number of THC poison-
ing-related calls increased for
almost all age groups in 2015,
but the jump was highest among
children 1 to 4 years old.
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017
UNDER THE SKY
High
10.0 ft.
8.1 ft.
La Grande
43/78
Roseburg
53/90
Brookings
47/60
June 23
John Day
43/80
Bend
43/80
Medford
53/93
Tonight's Sky: Ursa Major will be nearly overhead
before midnight and Cassiopeia will be low above
the northern horizon.
Time
2:33 a.m.
4:03 p.m.
Prineville
42/83
Lebanon
49/87
Eugene
48/86
SUN AND MOON
First
Pendleton
49/83
The Dalles
53/91
Portland
57/89
By NATALIE ST. JOHN
EO Media Group
Merkley to hold town hall
The Daily Astorian
ALMANAC
Ocean Park woman
imprisoned for
giving drug to child
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Sat.
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Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
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Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy,
sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries,
sn-snow, i-ice.
C h a r t Yo u r C o u r s e
Register Now!
For Summer Term
Classes begin June 26th
Contact Student Services at
registration@clatsopcc.edu or call 503-338-2411
In observance of Memo-
rial Day on Monday, all fed-
eral, state, county and city
offi ces and services, includ-
ing Astoria, Warrenton, Gear-
hart, Seaside and Cannon
Beach city halls, are closed.
All U.S. post offi ces are
closed, and there is no mail
delivery.
Astoria, Jewell, Knappa,
Warrenton/Hammond, Sea-
side (including Cannon Beach
and Gearhart schools) and
Ocean Beach School District
schools and Clatsop Commu-
nity College are closed.
The Astoria Library,
Seaside Library, Warren-
ton Library and all Timber-
land libraries in Washington,
including Ilwaco, Ocean Park
and Naselle, are closed.
The Port of Astoria offi ces
and services are closed.
Garbage
collection
through Recology Western
Oregon (covering Astoria,
Seaside, Gearhart and Can-
non Beach), city of Warren-
ton garbage collection, and
Peninsula Sanitation (cover-
ing the Long Beach, Wash-
ington, Peninsula) are not
affected by the holiday.
Recology Western Oregon’s
transfer station is open from
8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Penin-
sula Sanitation’s transfer sta-
tion is open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m.
The Sunset Pool in Sea-
side is open from noon to
5 p.m. The Astoria Aquatic
Center is open.
The Clatsop County Her-
CORRECTION
Budget decrease incor-
rect — The Port of Asto-
ria’s $13.6 million pro-
posed budget for next fiscal
year is about $2 million less
LOTTERIES
than the budget for the fiscal
year that ends in June. A 1A
story Thursday incorrectly
said the decline would be $7
million.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
TUESDAY
Port of Astoria Budget Committee, noon, 10 Pier 1 Suite 209.
Astoria City Council, 6 p.m., library work session, City Hall,
1095 Duane St.
The Daily Astorian
Established July 1, 1873
(USPS 035-000)
Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group,
949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503-
325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to The Daily Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria,
OR 97103-0210
www.dailyastorian.com
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The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for
republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper.
www.clatsopcc.edu
CLATSOP COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY INSTITUTION. ADA ACCESSIBLE.
itage Museum, Oregon Film
Museum and Flavel House
are open from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m., and the Carriage House
is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5
p.m. The Uppertown Fire-
fi ghters’ Museum is closed.
Capt. Gray’s Port of Play and
Lil’ Sprouts are closed. Fort
Clatsop is open from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. The Columbia River
Maritime Museum is open
from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The
Seaside Museum is closed.
Sunset Empire Transpor-
tation (“The Bus”) is run-
ning. Weekend Seaside
Streetcar is running from 11
a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The Daily Astorian offi ces
are closed, but the newspa-
per printed and delivered as
usual.
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OREGON
Thursday’s Pick 4:
1 p.m.: 8-9-6-0
4 p.m.: 3-9-8-1
7 p.m.: 4-7-8-2
10 p.m.: 2-4-6-9
WASHINGTON
Thursday’s Daily Game: 3-1-2
Thursday’s Keno: 01-13-15-
17-19-21-25-28-29-31-35-36-
51-53-55-57-58-66-71-77
Thursday’s Match 4: 08-20-21-24
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