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. LEINASSAR
DMD, FAGD
503/325-0310
1414 M ARINE D RIVE
A STORIA
www.smileastoria.com
Roby’s
Furniture & Appliance
Astoria • (503) 325-1535
1555 Commercial Street
Store Hours
Mon. - Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm
Saturday 10am to 5pm
More Locations:
Tillamook • (503) 842-7111
1126 Main Ave
Lincoln City • (541) 996-2177
6255 SW Hwy. 101
Newport • (541) 265-9520
5111 N. Coast Hwy.
Judge OKs lawsuit seeking better protection of Puget Sound
Suit brought by
environmental
group in Oregon
By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
SEATTLE — The Wash-
ington Department of Ecology
faces the possibility of losing
millions of dollars in federal
money after a judge Tuesday
declined to dismiss a lawsuit
brought by an Oregon-based
environmental group.
The lawsuit, by Northwest
Environmental Advocates, of
Portland, is designed to force
the state to do more to protect
Puget Sound from pollution or
risk losing more than $3.5 mil-
lion per year in federal support.
The federal government is
supposed to cut certain fund-
ing for states that don’t have
an approved plan for protecting
coastal waterways from pollu-
tion related to farming, logging
and other activities. Cutting the
funding — a punishment dic-
tated by Congress — is sup-
posed to pressure states to con-
trol the pollution.
According to the lawsuit,
the Environmental Protection
Agency and the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration haven’t approved Wash-
ington’s plan, but they keep
giving the state money anyway.
The state’s orcas, salmon and
other species remain in peril.
“They keep talking about
saving these species and pro-
tecting human health from pol-
lution, but when push comes
to shove they’re not doing
anything,” said Nina Bell,
the group’s executive direc-
tor. “Our goal here is not to
take money away from the
Department of Ecology. It’s
to use a tool Congress cre-
ated to pressure them to do
what they’re supposed to be
doing, controlling the source of
pollution.”
Such fi xes include mea-
sures such as requiring farm-
ers or loggers to leave enough
vegetation on stream banks to
keep eroded soil, pesticides or
other pollutants from reaching
the water, she said.
The federal government
asked U.S. District Judge John
C. Coughenour in Seattle to dis-
miss the case, on the grounds
that Northwest Environmental
Advocates lacked standing to
sue, among other grounds. But
the judge ruled Tuesday that
most of the group’s claims can
go forward.
Florence • (541)997-8214
18th & Hwy. 101
afford the care they need and
want. A 5% cash discount
for payment at time of
service; in-office, 1-6-month
arrangements for the
creditworthy; or 6-18-month
in-office third-party financing
plans for those who qualify,
and which may offer no or
low interest. You may be
pleasantly surprised.
Q: Will I have to
assemble my
furniture when
it is delivered??
A: Most wood furniture
products require
assembly prior to delivery.
Our delivery service at
Roby’s includes assembly
of your furniture prior
to delivery. Our delivery
service also includes
complimentary removal
of your old furniture if
necessary.
Q: Does the
Oregon Health
Plan cover
chiropractic
care?
The Oregon
ASTORIA A: Yes!
Health Plan does cover
CHIROPRACTIC
Barry Sears, D.C.
503-325-3311
2935 Marine Drive
Astoria, Oregon
chiropractic care with
referral from your primary
care physician.
Call us today for more
information or to schedule
your appointment.
Now accepting new patients.