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7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 Medicaid: State projects related to expansion have faced setbacks Continued from Page 1A The Oregon Health Author- ity worked with three other private vendors, and used Ore- gon Department of Human Services employees and its own staff to handle the work. According to an email from Interim Oregon Health Authority Director Pat Allen to two legislative offi ces, pro- vided to the EO Media Group/ Pamplin Media Group Capital Bureau on Monday, the out- side vendors provided exper- tise in project management, “back up call center support,” and support for processing renewals. This outsourcing allowed health authority staff who had more familiarity with the sys- tem to focus on more complex cases requiring redetermina- tions, according to Allen’s email. Allen said that the cost breakdown he provided to state Rep. Julie Parrish, R-Tualatin/West Linn, and Mike Carew, chief of staff to House Minority Leader Mike McLane, R-Powell Butte, on Friday evening was the best estimate his agency could presently provide. Certain internal costs such as payroll will not be known until after the end of the fi s- cal quarter, Allen, the former director of the Oregon Depart- The Blue Mountain Eagle Oregon has struggled to get a handle on Medicaid eligibility. ment of Consumer and Busi- ness Services, said. “In summary, this rep- resents our best estimate at this point,” Allen wrote. “It will no doubt change some- what, and we can provide a more detailed fi nal accounting in November.” The EO Media Group/ Pamplin Media Group Capi- tal Bureau inquired about the costs associated with recon- ciling the backlog earlier this summer, under the tenure of prior Oregon Health Authority Director Lynne Saxton, who resigned at the end of August in the wake of a public-rela- tions scandal. While at the time, the health authority did provide some information about pri- vate vendors brought on to Lease: Restaurants that could be models shown Continued from Page 1A Parts of the concept include the hotel, the Chinook Build- ing and the former Seafare restaurant in between . The restaurant, once a popular gathering place that has long been vacant, is run down from past storm damage and likely needs to be demolished. After the Port Commission signed off on the lease, Tra- bucco came forward to show pictures of restaurants in New- port Beach and Tiburon, Cal- ifornia, that could be models for the former Seafare. “This gives you an idea of what we could do with the riverfront side,” he said. In other news, the Port Commission approved: • An intergovernmental agreement to have the Port of Ilwaco, Washington, dredge a portion of the west-end marina this winter. Ilwaco has a smaller dredge that can fi t into the marina, which hasn’t been dredged in at least a decade. Sand bars appear at low tide, grounding boats and damaging docks. The Port, which can’t afford to dredge the entire basin at one time , has opted to spread the operation over a few years. • An increase in annual moorage rates at marinas of $3 per foot per year over the next three years. The current rate is $34 per foot annually for rec- reational vessels. Boatyard haul out and storage rates were also increased. Port Director of Operations Matt McGrath said the Port’s marina and boatyard rates are far below that of other ports, prevent the agency from taking care of deferred mainte- nance and are part of the rea- son the agency loses money on the operations. • New Port bylaws the agency and its general coun- sel , Eileen Eakins, have been working on in recent months. • An updated Port com- missioner compensation pol- icy, which would allow travel reimbursement for meet- ings outside Clatsop County and a $50 stipend for offi - cial Port Commission meet- ings and approved committee assignments. • Roughly $20,000 above the $75,000 budgeted for repairs to the Port’s dredge. McGrath said the dredge, from the 1970s, had several areas of surprise concern when hauled out at North Tongue Point by WCT Marine. • Moving forward with the process of developing an updated strategic plan to direct the Port’s endeavors. The Port’s last strategic plan was in 2010. Knight has said the state wants an updated plan every fi ve years. • Spending more than $700,000 of the $1.1 mil- lion left in a Federal Avia- tion Administration grant for improvements at the Asto- ria Regional Airport in War- renton. The Port’s contrac- tors completed work covered under Airport Improvement Project 21. Airport Manager Gary Kobes said the Port has to use the money left on airport improvements or lose it. The Port needs to match $70,000 to receive the grant money, $40,000 of which staff said is budgeted. help with the project, pub- lic-relations offi cials at the agency declined to provide more specifi c information about the internal person- nel costs associated with the project, saying only that those costs were within the agency’s approved budget. The approximately $4.3 million in costs pale in com- parison, though, to the over- all fi nancial challenges Oregon has faced in imple- menting the Affordable Care Act, which allowed states to raise the income threshold for Medicaid. While hundreds of thou- sands of Oregonians gained coverage under the ACA, with the federal government foot- ing most of the bill, Oregon projects related to the expan- sion have faced setbacks. Cover Oregon, an ambi- tious state-run health care exchange, failed to come to fruition, costing taxpayers about $300 million. An ongoing state IT project to integrate eligibility systems for various social safety net programs in Oregon, includ- ing the Oregon Health Plan , is estimated to cost $241.7 mil- lion, according to documents produced by the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Offi ce. A portion of that is expected to be covered by the federal government. The proj- ect’s progress is being mon- itored by the Legislature and is expected to be complete by June of 2019. The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. C onsult a P rofessional computer didn’t Q: My come with a set of LEO FINZI Astorias Best.com W e strive to exceed your expections . M-F 10-6 Sat . 11-4 77 11th Street, Suite H Astoria, OR 503-325-2300 Windows recovery disks. Plug in a blank USB drive. Click the Windows icon in the bottom left of your screen, then the gear for settings. Type “Create a Recovery Drive” and then click Yes. Make sure “Backup System files” is checked. Windows will find your USB stick and warn that everything on it will be erased. Click OK, and then be patient; it will take some time. Put the USB drive in a safe location if you should need it in the future. A: Q: Can I finance my dental care over time? Sessions: 1987 law made Oregon a sanctuary state Continued from Page 1A The governor said she requested a meeting with Ses- sions but received no response from his offi ce. She said she would have appealed to pre- serve Deferred Action for Child- hood Arrivals , which the Trump administration wants to rescind. The program allows undocu- mented young adults brought to the United States as children to legally work and attend school . “He clearly did not have time to meet with me and hear my strong views about how I feel about making sure that Dreamers are able to go to school, to work and to lead lives in this state,” Brown said. Sessions’ offi ce did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on why he decided against meeting the governor. In his speech, the attor- ney general said the nearly 500 sanctuary cities across the nation “hinder the work of fed- eral law enforcement” and “pro- EO Media Group Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday that she asked for a meet- ing with Attorney General Jeff Sessions when he was in Portland, but his office did not respond to her request. mote lawlessness.” “That makes a sanctuary city a traffi cker, smuggler, or gang member’s best friend,” Ses- sions said. Brown said she is “appalled by the position of the attorney general.” “I want to make it very clear that Oregon is a state that wel- comes and wants to encour- age our immigrant and refu- gee communities,” the governor said. “We see them as a very important part of Oregon’s cul- tural and economic fabric, and they’re part of what makes Ore- gon unique.” A 1987 law effectively made Oregon a sanctuary state. Brown reinforced that law with an executive order in Febru- ary barring the use of any state resources to enforce federal immigration policy. Sessions announced this month that the Trump adminis- tration would phase out DACA in the next six months, unless Congress chose to enact the program legislatively. The administration asserts that the program, created through executive order by President Barack Obama, is unconstitutional because it circumvents congressional powers. Oregon is one of 16 states that sued the Trump administra- tion earlier this month claiming that the dissolution of DACA violates the Constitution’s equal protection clause. If Brown had met with Ses- sions, she said: “I would tell him that his position on DACA is absolutely counter to Oregon values and Oregonians.” The Capital Bureau is a col- laboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group. are several ways to A: There help patients receive and JEFFREY M. 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