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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017
As health bill teeters, Medicaid Clamming:
Limit remains 15
recipients watch nervously
By CHRISTINA
A. CASSIDY and
GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press
With the latest Republican
health care overhaul teeter-
ing near collapse, one group
in particular is watching with
heightened anxiety.
The debate in Congress
is personal for many of those
who gained coverage through
Medicaid in the 31 states that
expanded the program under
former President Barack
Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Alan Purser, who lives
in eastern Arkansas, cred-
its expanded Medicaid with
saving his life, after a routine
doctor’s visit ended with him
being hospitalized and treated
for multiple blood clots in both
lungs. The 60-year-old dia-
betic said he would not be able
to afford his insulin medica-
tion because he does not qual-
ify for traditional Medicaid.
“I am going to be up a creek
if it goes through,” he said.
The Medicaid expansion
brought health insurance to
some 11 million lower-income
Americans, helping drive the
nation’s uninsured rate to just
9 percent. That program would
have ended in three years
under the initial version of the
Republican’s latest health care
bill, triggering widespread
uncertainty for both recipi-
ents and states facing the pros-
pect of winding down their
coverage.
The latest GOP effort
appeared to be doomed late
Monday when Republican
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of
Maine announced her oppo-
sition, citing in part the pro-
posed cuts to Medicaid that
she described as “devastat-
ing.” With Democrats united
in opposition, the only way
Republicans can revive the bill
is to alter it in ways they hope
will change opposing senators’
minds.
The bill’s demise is wel-
come news to New Jersey state
Sen. Joseph Vitale, a Demo-
crat, who says the legislation
would have been devastating
for people who are covered
through the Medicaid expan-
sion. “They can now go to
sleep at night like the rest of
us who have health insurance,
knowing that if something
happens to them or something
befalls a family member,”
Vitale said, “that they have
access to affordable care and
quality care.”
States signed up for the
Medicaid expansion under
the promise that the federal
government would pick up
the vast majority of the costs.
Experts and officials in sev-
eral of the states that opted for
it said that under the GOP plan
they would not have the ability
to cover the costs of all those
who benefited.
“I don’t want to have to
look those people in the eye
and say you are losing your
health insurance,” said Nevada
state Assemblyman Michael
Sprinkle, a Democrat.
In his state, more than
300,000 people gained health
insurance through the expan-
sion, which extended coverage
to more lower-income Amer-
icans by raising the income
limit. Most were adults with
no children at home.
Big gains
Kentucky was another
state seeing big gains under
Obama’s health care law, its
uninsured rate dropping from
14.3 percent before it took
effect to 5.1 percent last year.
The 64 percent decline was the
largest of any state, according
to data from the U.S. Census
Bureau.
Nearly all that gain was
because Kentucky’s former
Democratic governor opted to
expand Medicaid, which pro-
vided coverage to 461,000
Kentuckians. The state also is
home to U.S. Senate Major-
ity Leader Mitch McConnell,
who is among those leading
the Republican effort to dis-
mantle the law, and now has a
Republican governor who also
favors repeal.
John Holbrook, of Ash-
land, does not want to see the
law repealed. He received sub-
stance abuse treatment under
the Medicaid expansion, after
being hospitalized with a dan-
gerously high blood-alcohol
level in December 2015.
“I would be dead or still
homeless,” said Holbrook,
36, who now works as a peer
support specialist at a private
treatment facility that accepts
Medicaid. “Working in recov-
ery, I see it changing lives
every day.”
The original version of
the GOP bill would end fund-
ing for expansion enrollees in
2020, among other changes
that would shift more of the
financial responsibility of the
$500 billion-plus overall Med-
icaid program to the states.
States already spend, on aver-
age, about 25 percent of their
budgets on Medicaid.
clams per person
Continued from Page 1A
This year, however,
annual surveys show only
an estimated 3 million clams
in the area, the lowest num-
ber recorded there since state
biologists first began surveys
in 2004.
“These low numbers are
troubling, as they mean Clat-
sop beaches haven’t seen a
significant recruitment event
for two years,” said Matt
Hunter, the Oregon Depart-
ment of Fish and Wildlife’s
shellfish project leader. “But
this recruitment issue is
not isolated to just Clatsop
beaches. It’s being seen on
the entire Oregon Coast and
for Washington beaches,
too.”
In the past, the clams har-
vested on the Clatsop beaches
have accounted for more than
90 percent of the razor clams
harvested in the entire state.
Razor clam populations
are cyclical, state biologists
say, with periods of high
abundance often followed by
times of low abundance. And
there is a silver lining: Since
the harvest has been closed
for so long on the Clatsop
beaches, the clams available
are larger, averaging about 4
1/2 inches.
“While razor clam num-
bers are lower this year,
clams are quite large,”
Hunter said. “To be success-
ful, clammers should be dil-
igent, choose the best low
tides and actively ‘pound’ to
get razors to show.”
This year is the first time
Washington state has fallen
into a rebuilding category
for harvest on its beaches
because of the low popula-
tion numbers, particularly
those in the southern por-
tion of the state, according
to Dan Ayres, coastal shell-
fish manager with the Wash-
ington Department of Fish
and Wildlife. He attributes
the low population numbers
in part to an extended period
of low salinity in near-shore
ocean waters.
The state announced sev-
eral tentative digs through
December, but is severely
limiting the number of days
available, and is also keeping
a close watch on toxin lev-
els. The first dig will start at
7:49 p.m. on Oct. 6 in Long
Beach, Twin Harbors, Copa-
lis and Mocrocks, and at 8:33
p.m. the next day in these
same locations. The next
round of digs will occur in
the first week of November.
“We’re
taking
into
account that it’s a weaker
population as we set har-
vest rates,” Ayres said. Even
while the numbers are low
and the state takes a caution-
ary approach to digs, Ayres
still expects clammers will
go home happy.
“The total number of
clams may be down this year,
but we still expect good dig-
ging on most beaches,” he
said.
The tides are another fac-
tor clammers will need to
consider, however. As the
coast plunges deeper into fall
and winter, the best low tides
will occur early in the morn-
ing or at night, said Mitch
Vance, shellfish project
leader with the Oregon fish
and wildlife department’s
marine resources program.
“We’re getting into night-
time razor clamming, which
is a whole different world,”
said Vance, and it is some-
thing he recommends only
for “people who already
know what they’re doing.”
Throughout September,
the levels of domoic acid
have gone up and down by
small increments; recent
tests show clams are safe to
eat, Vance said. The Sun-
day opener follows several
rounds of tests that showed
levels of the toxin were
below the threshold estab-
lished by the Oregon Depart-
ment of Agriculture. The
state will continue to monitor
toxin levels and announce a
closure if levels spike.
In Oregon, the daily bag
limit remains 15 clams per
person, with no sorting or
releasing allowed.
OREGON CAPITAL
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Attention Hunters
&
Marina: Hit several revenue records this year
Forest Recreationists
Army Corps uses large dredg- Army Corps for more than 50 so far,” Sweet said.
Continued from Page 1A
Warrenton is looking at ways to improve conditions at the Hammond Marina.
“There’s a lot of unused
water there that could turn into
more slips, or moving the slips
over,” Mayor Henry Balensifer
said. “There’s a lot of stuff that
could be done there.”
But, he added, echoing
Sweet, “Dredging permits only
last so long before you lose
them … There’s process, so
it’s better to get these things
moving.”
Hammond is not the only
marina near the mouth of the
Columbia River beleaguered
by dredging concerns.
The ports of Ilwaco and
Chinook in Washington state
must also worry about mate-
rial silting in boat slips and
marina entrances. While the
ing vessels to keep federal
channels clear in the Colum-
bia River, these marinas and
basins fall outside of the agen-
cy’s responsibility.
Ilwaco, however, has its
own small dredge for marina
work. In January, the port
moved the dredge down the
highway to Chinook to dredge
the smaller port’s marina. In
November, the same dredge
is scheduled to work in the
Port of Astoria’s West Moor-
ing Basin, which hasn’t been
dredged in 11 years and where
accumulated sediment threat-
ens the docks.
‘Filled year-round’
Warrenton has leased the
Hammond Marina from the
years.
“But it wasn’t like the
Corps of Engineers was put-
ting in new docks or anything,”
Balensifer said. “That was all
on us.”
Over the years, the city made
small improvements to the
marina. Most recently, Sweet
oversaw bathroom improve-
ments, as well as repairs and
improvements to the parking
lot. She also put a camp host in
place this summer.
The work paid off,
literally. The Hammond
Marina hit several revenue
records this year during the
busy summer months and is
on track to exceed its budget in
camping and launch fees alone.
“It was one of the best years
But all those financial gains
could quickly dry up if the
marina becomes unusable, she
said. For now, fishermen can
plan their launches around the
tides, but it is a far from ideal
situation.
“It’s a huge economic
impact if we don’t have that
(marina),” Warrenton City
Commissioner Pam Ack-
ley told other commissioners
at a meeting in mid-Septem-
ber after she had attended the
marina task force meeting.
Short agrees, saying, “They
need it dredged, and they need
new docks extra bad.” Given
the improvements already
completed, “they do those two
things and they’ll be filled up
year-round.”
Rentals: ‘This is really just about health and safety’
Continued from Page 1A
“Over the past two decades
there has been tremendous
growth in the use of second
homes as vacation rentals,”
Clatsop County Manager Cam-
eron Moore wrote in a meet-
ing agenda item summary. “It
is anticipated that the ‘vacation
rental industry’ will continue to
grow in Clatsop County for the
foreseeable future.”
Moore added that short-
term rentals — unlike hotels,
motels and bed and break-
fasts — are not regulated by
the state to ensure renters’
health and safety. County staff
has held internal discussions
about the issue since the sum-
mer of 2016. Since then, staff
documented complaints that
included inadequate septic sys-
tems, balconies without rail-
ings and electrical wirings near
hot tubs.
Permits could, among other
things, require owners to com-
ply with quiet hours, provide
covered garbage containers and
possess at least one fire extin-
guisher. The regulations could
also set maximum occupancy
at three people per sleeping
area plus two more at a rental.
What the regulations would
not require is a limit on the
number of days a particular
unit can be rented out, which
is a major difference from ordi-
nances in some cities, Com-
munity Development Director
Heather Hansen said.
At a meeting in January,
Hansen provided an example
of a large home near Cullaby
Lake that had caught fire and
became completely engulfed in
flames. Advertised as a short-
term rental, it did not seek per-
mits from the county. No cause
had been determined for the
fire, but staff suspected it was
an electrical issue.
“This is really just about
health and safety and to ensure
that someone who comes here
on vacation has some reason-
able assurance that whatever
it is they rented is not going
to cause harm to them or their
family,” Moore said during
a January work session. “It’s
really not uncommon for peo-
ple to not get permits, not fol-
low code. Frankly, people play
games.”
The ordinance would
require owners to obtain five-
year, renewable permits for
an unlimited number of prop-
erties. The permits would be
transferable upon sale to a new
owner.
The permit process would
involve an inspection of the
property and payment of a fee.
That fee would be adopted by
commissioners based on the
money needed to offset the cost
to the county for conducting
inspections and processing per-
mits. It would apply to all prop-
erties in unincorporated areas
with the exception of Arch
Cape, which already has short-
term rental regulations.
The Lewis & Clark Timberlands managed by
GreenWood Resources in Clatsop County will again
open for motorized recreational access this fall.
Public access is allowed from one hour before sun-
rise until one hour after sunset. Camping, camp-
fires, off-road driving, ATVs and motorcycles are
prohibited. All access is subject to change.
Gates open from Sept. 30, through Nov. 24, 2017
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
L&C Camp Gate (71)
400 Line (72)
300 Line (73)
Klootchy Park (39)
Sugarloaf (24)
Charlie Cr. (26)
Clatsop Fir XO (25)
Tidewater (49)
Snow Point (54)
• Elk Mtn. W (98/99)
• L&C ML at Saddle
Mtn. Park Rd East/
West (56/57)
• Fisher ML (83)
• Twilight Gates
(110/113/114)
• Bear Cr. 300 (80)
• Elk Mtn. East (53)
Any gate that may be open but is not listed
above could be closed at any time, as unlisted
gates are open for active Lewis & Clark Timber-
lands operations only.
Please report any illegal or suspicious activity
to the Sheriff ’s Office at 503.325.2061 or the
Oregon State Police at 1.800.452.7888
TO REPORT A FIRE OR EMERGENCY
CALL 911 Road maps showing gate locations
are available at our New Gearhart office. Current
access information is available on the Recre-
ational Hotline at 503.738.6351, ext.2.