A4
V IEWPOINT
Hood River News,
Saturday, April 11, 2015
O ur readers write
JOE PETSHOW
Publisher/President,
Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
CHELSEA MARR
General Manager
JODY THOMPSON
Advertising Manager
DICK NAFSINGER
Publisher, Emeritus (1933-2011)
TOM LANCTOT
Past President,
Eagle Newspapers, Inc.
‘Net Neutrality’
KIRBY NEUMANN-REA
Editor
TONY METHVIN
Columbia Gorge Press Manager
DAVID MARVIN
Production Manager
Subscription $42 per year in Hood River trade area. $68 outside trade area.
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
ASSOCIATION
Printed on
OREGON NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION
recycled paper.
Official Newspaper, City of Hood River and Hood River County
Published Every Wednesday & Saturday by Hood River News,
P.O. Box 390, Hood River, Oregon 97031 • (541) 386-1234 • FAX 386-6796
Member of the Associated Press
A Blossom
Welcome
How do you rebrand a fruit blossom?
Y
ou don’t really, but the venerable spring festival
in Hood River Valley is now known as Blossom
Time.
It spans three weekends, beyond the traditional
three-day event over a single mid-April weekend.
This is part organizational, part scientific: that is,
Chamber of Commerce is looking at more and more com-
munity activities to promote in April, and Mother Nature
seems to have evolved in terms of delivering local flora.
Simply stated, it used to be that you could count on the
blossoms making themselves known on or about April 15
or so. People would plan their visits to the splendid or-
chards of this valley at about that time.
But “blossom creep” started happening a few years ago:
in some parts of the valley the flowers would emerge
somewhat earlier than the accustomed time, meaning
some folks might miss seeing them if all they had was one
weekend to plan around.
So the Chamber decided to stretch Blossom Festival, as
it was once known, into Blossom Time: a three-week arc in
which people can plan, at some point, to see the flowers at
or near their peak.
Of course, this year the blossoms appeared in March,
for the first time in memory. The full emergence, mid-val-
ley, by April 1 was no joke, but documented as the earliest
blossoming since records were kept at OSU Experiment
Station starting in 1944.
Blossom Time is about the flowers, to be sure, but it is
about the community and the way we revolve around the
cycles of nature. The past week has been a tense time for
many orchardists as overnight temperatures dipped at or
near freezing, in a time when the young blossoms and
fruitlets are highly susceptible to damage.
Blossom Time is about community events, and the way
our lives do cycle around the agricultural heritage of this
magnificent valley.
Whether you are a visitor or a local, now is the time to
enjoy a cornucopia starting this weekend, primarily:
Hard-Pressed Cider Fest in Odell, Wine Passport Month
events, Abstract Fiber Trunk Show near Odell, Second Sat-
urday at WAAAM, and Gorge Artists Open Studios Tour.
One result of all these remarkable events happening in
one weekend is that people will need to drive from place to
place, so caution on the roads is definitely in order. Take
your time, enjoy the scenery (marvelous even in inclement
weather) and be on the lookout for farm equipment.
For many, the work doesn’t stop for the festivities. The
work is year-round meaning that for farm workers in Hood
River valley, it is always blossom time.
President — Barack Obama, White House, 1600 Pennsylva-
nia Ave., Washington D.C., 20500
E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
U.S. Senators — Jeff Merkley, SDB-40B, Dirksen Senate Office
Building, Washington D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-3753; E-mail:
oregon@merkley.senate.gov; Ron Wyden, 717 Hart Office Build-
ing, Washington D.C., 20510. Phone: 202-224-5244.
Web address: www.senate.gov/member/or/wyden/general/
2nd Congressional District Representative — Greg
Walden, 14 N. Central Ave., Suite 112, Medford, OR 97504.
Phone: 541-776-4646;
E-mail: www.walden.house.gov/contactgreg
Governor — Kate Brown, 254 State Capitol, Salem, OR
97310. Phone: 503-378-3111;
E-mail: www.governor.state.or.us/email.htm
District 26 State Senator — Chuck Thomsen, 900 Court St.
N.E., S-307, State Capitol, Salem, OR 97301. Phone: 503-986-
1726; E-mail sen.chuckthomsen@state.or.us
District 52 State Representative — Mark Johnson, 900
Court St. N.E., Bldg. H-385, State Capitol, Salem, OR 97301.
Phone: 503-986-1452; E-mail: rep.markjohnson@state.or.us
Founded in 1905
419 State Street
Hood River, OR 97031
P.O. Box 390
Phone: (541) 386-1234
Operations:
Joe Petshow
Publisher
President, Eagle Newspapers
JPetshow@hoodrivernews.com
Chris Stenberg
Bookkeeper
CStenberg@hoodrivernews.com
Front Office/
Classified Advertising:
Kelly Gallagher
Eagle Classified Director
KGallagher@eaglenewspapers.com
Stacey Methvin
Classifieds/Receptionist
HRNClass@hoodrivernews.com
SMethvin@hoodrivernews.com
Not ‘Smarter’
The Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium test (SBAC) is too long. It
will take a student approximately 10-
15 hours, spread over seven days, to
complete the test.
An adult would be tired and weary
of testing going into the 3rd, 4th, 5th,
6th and 7th day of testing. How will an
8 year old feel and perform? How
about an already perpetually tired 17
year old?
Standardized tests have their place.
The Common Core Curriculum has its
strengths. What I am personally op-
posed to is the length and validity of
this particular test. This test has not
been proven to test what your student
has been taught or what your student
Springtime
reminder
Spring is in the air and gardeners in
Hood River will soon start working in
their yards. If that work includes dig-
ging, NW Natural reminds you to first
call 811 — the Utility Notification Cen-
ter — to locate underground gas and
other utility lines.
This is a free service and it’s not
only a smart thing to do to help pre-
vent damage, it’s the law. Once you
call, a technician will visit the proper-
ty within two business days to locate
your gas and utility lines.
If a gas line has been accidentally
damaged, remember to: Smell. Go. Let
us know. If you smell rotten eggs or
hear a hissing sound, immediately
leave the area on foot and then call 911
and NW Natural’s 24-hour emergency
line at 800-882-3377.
Be safe this spring and be sure to
call before you dig.
Tonya Brumley
NW Natural Community
Affairs Manager
The Dalles
Visit ‘Clink!’
I had a fun, interesting time recent-
ly at the Hood River County History
Museum. I attended the program
called “Clink!” It included a traveling
exhibit describing the wine industry
in Oregon.
Fascinating! I had no idea what a
rich history it was. There were several
local, award-winning wineries shar-
ing their best wines and an excellent
presentation on wine growing as a
hobby by Helmut Riedl.
The museum is a real credit to our
community — beautiful building, in-
formative exhibits, and outstanding
volunteers. Hats off to the county and
all those who have made this possible!
If you haven’t gone recently, the
“Clink!” program is an excellent intro-
duction. The last one is April 24, from
5 to 7 p.m. ($10-15 donation), and it is
your last opportunity to see the travel-
ing exhibit.
You can learn more about the muse-
um by googling “hood river museum,
about us.”
Lawrence Jones
Hood River
For Wilhelm
Kris Wilhelm is running for school
district position 1, Westside Hood
River and Cascade Locks. She stands
for kids, teachers, parents and makes
sound financial decisions not only in
her personal life and business but also
by investing wisely for her children’s
Please see LETTERS, Page A5
ANOTHER VOICE
Cost vs. patient safety:
When health plans discriminate
By DAVID RUSSO, D.O., M.P.H.
H
aving health coverage,
even when you didn’t have
it before the Affordable
Care Act, still may mean
you can’t get the medi-
cines you may need.
Insurance companies call it “bene-
fit design,” but con-
sumer watch-dog and
patient safety groups
call it “adverse tier-
ing.” Those of us on
the front lines of pa-
tient care know it sim-
ply as bad medicine.
That is, the choices
your prescriber pre-
sents you for treatment
of your chronic health
condition may be less
about his or her profes-
sional judgment and
more about what your insurance
plan is willing to pay.
Tiering is how health plans use
various incentives to influence how
you and your doctor select a medica-
tion to treat your condition. It’s not
surprising that these incentives have
been shown to effectively bolster the
insurance company’s bottom line.
What is surprising is that these in-
centives can effect who even bothers
signing up for insurance in the first
place. By making it more costly or
difficult to prescribe medications for
a particular kind of problem or
group of people, health plans can
cherry-pick their customers.
Findings published recently in the
New England Journal of Medicine by
researchers at Harvard’s School of
Public Health showed that one quar-
ter of health plans surveyed used ad-
verse tiering to limit patient access to
certain HIV drugs.
Even when lower pre-
miums and Affordable
Care Act caps on out-
of-pocket expenses
were factored in, some-
one enrolled in an ad-
verse tiering plan
would still pay $3,000
more than someone en-
rolled in the other
plans. But it doesn’t
just stop there.
Doctors who treat
medically complex pa-
tients with multiple chronic diseases
know that adverse tiering can have
life threatening implications. For my
specialty of pain management, this
means that “tiering” patients into
first failing attempts of dangerous
drugs, when safer abuse-deterrent
formulations may be more appropri-
ate, forces prescribers and patients
into bad prescribing practices.
The good news is that new rules
now under consideration by Oregon
legislators would encourage safer
opioid prescribing practice by remov-
ing any disincentives to prescribing
‘Prescriber
judgment should
be honored by
payers and at
the pharmacy
pick-up window.’
W HERE TO WRITE
Chelsea Marr
General Manager
CMarr@hoodrivernews.com
I had my letter about Greg Walden’s
stand on net neutrality in draft form
ready to type up and submit. After
reading Joshua Dawson’s letter of
April 4, 2015, I must add a second para-
graph to my letter. But first my initial
thoughts. Greg Walden is again pan-
dering to corporate America rather
than acting on behalf of his District 2
constituents, all Oregonians and
American citizens.
His latest attack on people, and even
small businesses, is his efforts to stop
new FCC rules guaranteeing equal ac-
cess to all internet users, meaning
there is not favoritism given to any
one user for any reason. The net is to
remain neutral. There can be no slow-
ing of delivery or failure to deliver any
message or deny access to a site. Be-
fore the 2014 elections, Walden was
bought by AT&T, Verison, Comcast
and Time Warner Cable with almost
$57,000 in campaign donations. Now,
Walden, after all as a surrogate em-
ployee of those internet providers, is
earning his pay by trying to stop the
implementation of the new FCC desig-
nation of how these businesses are
categorized. Why does Walden consis-
tently put corporate profit before peo-
ple?
Now some comments on Mr. Daw-
son’s letter. The FCC did not take over
the internet, period.
The only attempted power grab was
by the four providers above and their
ilk and Walden is stand up for them,
not freedom. After all, he must earn
his pay. Yes, the internet has been
around for a good long time but Veri-
son, Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T
nor any other internet provider in-
vented it. They did not patent it. But
they have profited by it and hand-
somely.
Gary Fields
Hood River
has learned. From all I have read, this
test is still in the research phase and
any student that takes it is a research
subject. The scores that they will re-
ceive will be part of their school
record whether or not they are a fair
reflection of their actual knowledge. If
this doesn’t seem fair, then you might
consider opting your student out of
the test.
I know that parents worry how opt-
ing out of SBAC might affect their
children, so this is important to un-
derstand: private school students are
not required to take the Smarter Bal-
anced Assessment and will not have a
SBAC score on their record. Schools
and universities will find a way to as-
sess them, perhaps by looking at their
transcripts — and they can do that for
public school students who opt-out,
too.
The Hood River School District is
required by law to administer the test,
but it is your legal right to opt your
student out of it. I have already opted
my students out of this test. There are
several opt-out forms available on the
Web. I encourage you to do your own
research about this topic and serious-
ly consider what is best for your fami-
ly and your student’s future.
Peg Bogard
Hood River
Circulation:
Esther K. Smith
Circulation Manager
(541) 386-1234 Ext. 205
ESmith@hoodrivernews.com
News:
Kirby Neumann-Rea
Editor
HRNews@hoodrivernews.com
Ben Mitchell
News/Features
BenMitchell@hoodrivernews.com
■
Dr. David Russo is a physiatrist and
pain management specialist with Co-
lumbia Pain Management P.C. in
Hood River.
Trisha Walker
News/Features
TWalker@hoodrivernews.com
Liana Stegall
Advertising Sales
LStegall@hoodrivernews.com
LisaAnn Kawachi
News/Features
LKawachi@hoodrivernews.com
Kirsten Lane
Advertising Sales
KLane@hoodrivernews.com
Patrick Mulvihill
News/Features
PMulvihill@hoodrivernews.com
Ailene Hibbard
Archivist
Advertising:
Jim Drake
Entertainment
JDrake@hoodrivernews.com
abuse-deterrent painkillers. Other
protections include requiring insur-
ance carriers to provide coverage for
abuse-deterrent opioids as preferred
drugs on their formulary, requiring
that the cost-sharing for abuse-deter-
rent opioids not exceed the lowest
cost-sharing applied to prescription
drugs, and prohibit an increase in pa-
tient cost-sharing. Massachusetts
passed a similar law last year.
Oregon health providers and lead-
ers, as well as policy makers, must
pay attention. When it comes to re-
ducing opioid over-doses and deaths
in our state, prescribers need every
arrow in their quiver. This means
that insurance companies shouldn’t
be allowed to prioritize cost over pa-
tient safety. When a prescriber judges
that an abuse-deterrent formulation
is a safer and more appropriate op-
tion for a patient, that judgment
should be honored by payers and at
the pharmacy pick-up window. Using
tools such as abuse-deterrent formu-
lations, prescription drug monitoring
data-bases, enhanced patient surveil-
lance, and evidenced-based prescrib-
ing guidelines, together we can stem
the tide of deaths and dysfunction
caused by prescription pain-killer
abuse in our state.
Jody Thompson
Advertising Manager
JThompson@hoodrivernews.com
Production:
419 State Street
Hood River, OR 97031
P.O. Box 390
Phone: (541) 386-1234
David Marvin
Production Manager
DMarvin@hoodrivernews.com
Tony Methvin
Plant Manager
(541) 386-1234
TMethvin@columbiagorgepress.com
Jim Drake
Production
JDrake@hoodrivernews.com
Sarah Methvin
Sales/Customer Service
SDMethvin@columbiagorgepress.com
Lisa Becharas
Commercial Printing
LBecharas@columbiagorgepress.com