P ag e
A ugust 25, 1993 • T he P ortland O bserver
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O r e g o n ’s H e a lt h P la n : A r e Y o u S t i l l W i t h U s ?
3684, in tro d u ced by Rep G reg
W alden (R-Hood River). It does the
following things:
• Creates the office of Health
Plan Administrator This individual,
appointed by the Governor in consul­
tation w ith the Speaker of the House
and President of
the Senate, will be
charged with co-
ordinatingall fac­
ets o f the plan's
implementation
• Establishes
a work plan and
time frame for the
numerous decisions that must occur
for the plan to be enacted.
• F unds O re g o n ’s M edicaid
demonstration project. This will bring
full medicaid benefits to 120,000 low -
income O regonians previously de­
nied coverage by the state.
• Directs the Governor and the
If you are, good! If not, you
w ouldn't be able to read this anyway -
-which wouldn't be surprising be­
cause it has been four years since the
legislature enacted our v aunted Health
Plan and a number of uninsured O r­
egonians have passed away in the
interim Not by in­
tent, they just ran
out o f time (and
money). Let’s see
what the Associ­
ated Oregon In­
dustries says on
recent events.
O re g o n
Health Plan Moves Forward
The 67th Legislative Assembly
has completed its work on refine­
ments to the Oregon Health Plan
Senate Bill 5530 represents the 1993
Legislature’s vision of health care
reform.
SB 5530 was initiated as HB
state to apply for and receive exemp­
tion from conflicting federal laws re­
lating to the employer mandate
• Reschedules the employer man­
date if those exemptions are received.
Large employers (26 or more employ­
ees) w ould be subject to the law begin­
ning M arch 31, 1997. Smaller busi­
nesses (25 or fewer employees) would
be required to participate beginning
January 1, 1998.
It is clear that both the 1995 and
1997 legislative sessions will revisit
the plan and make further refine­
ments as implementation occurs.
Now that seems like a pretty
straight forward assessment, factual
and prioritized. Howev er, a 1 ittle back
tracking to media reports of late July
does lend more clarity to the issues,
“...finally, the House and Senate have
decided somebody needs to be hired
to figure out what they meant. Both
bodies are promising the creation of a
Hatfield Announces Dislocated
Worker Funding
Senator Mark Hatfield announced
that the State o f Oregon will receiv e
another $1.1 m illion for dislocated
workers affected by job losses in the
timber and commercial fishing indus­
tries.
The $1.1 million announced is
the third installment in the $7.5 m il­
lion commitment obtained by Senator
Hatfield from the Federal Department
of Labor during the Bush Adm inistra­
tion.
This installment will serve ap­
proximately 250 workers and will be
administered by the JobTraining Part­
nership Act A dm inistration in the
Oregon Economic Development De-
partment. The funds are distributed to
the state by the Department of Labor
and will provide workers with assess­
m en t job development, job placement,
job search assistance, counseling class­
room training , relocation assistance
and supportive services.
In 1992, Hatfield was able to se­
cure a $7.5 million commitment from
the Department for Oregon Workers
dislocated as a result of restriction on
federal forest lands to protect the spot­
ted ow l, and as a result of commercial
fishing restriction imposed by Federal
and State regulators due to poor ocean
conditions.
A total of $8.4 million, including
businesses.
Don Forsy th, who owns the local
garbage collection franchise and a
manufacturing company, expressed
concern over the inflationary’ aspects
of the gasoline tax. Forsyth believes
that the gas tax will result in higher
prices for goods and services at both
the wholesale and the retail level.
At the noon Chamber of Com­
merce speech, Packwood discussed
the federal budget deficit and advo­
cated reducing the rate of increase for
federal entitlement programs, includ­
ing Social Security, Medicare, M edic­
aid and federal retirement programs
Currently, these four programs, plus
interest on the federal debt, consume
55 percent of all federal government
spending
©ije
(©hserlicr
In Baker City, Packwood was
given a briefing about the municipal
watershed by local Forest Service per­
sonnel and community leaders. City
officials believe that the abundance of
dead and dying trees in the watershed
could lead to a catastrophic fire. If a
fire occurs, the city could be forced to
spend millions of dollars to construct
a filtration plant.
Packwood told local officials he
would work with the Forest Serv ice in
an effort to reduce unnecessary delay s
which the city is facing in restoring
the watershed to a healthy condition.
In addition to the appearance
mentioned abov e, Packwood also had
interviews scheduled with local me­
dia Packwood is on a three week trip
through Oregon
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T hank Y ou F or R eading
T he P ortland O bserver
now waxed forth eloquently: "The
governors proposed new cigarette tax
to help fund the Oregon Health Plan
will fall most heavily on the poor,
uneducated, chronically unemploy ed
and minorities—the very people the
Oregon Health Plan was designed to
help.” But what about using the Lot­
tery Funds that were to create jobs to
hire the poor?
T h o u san d m ore O re g o n ia n s
will get health care as a result of
the legislatures actions—and scores
o f d octors, h o sp ita ls a n d o th e r
health care providers will celebrate
as they looked at their bottom line.
Under the plan, O regonians with an
income below the federal poverty
level, which is set at $991 a month
for a family of three, will be eligible
for expanded M edicaid coverage
That coverage includes a guaranteed
basic benefits package and begins
February 1. This adds 120,000 more
to the Medicaid including pregnant
women and young children with in­
comes up to one third above the pov­
erty level.
Except for distant rural areas,
coverage will be available principally
from health maintenance organiza­
tions (HMOs), like Good Health Plan
(Providence), Kaiser Perm anente,
ODS, Pacificore, Legacy (Emanuel)
etc This "HMD’’ approach to ex­
panded health care for all is that of the
Clinton adm inistration. A lthough
there have been some comments to
the contrary, I have found through
both personal experience and reports
that these ‘managed care’ systems
not only can function well but clearly
are the only ways to deliver massive
health care in an economical fashion.
Both locally and nationally, it is
still tobe decided who shall be brought
aboard, how fast and in what order.
But its' a start.
Appointment Of Deputy State Treasurer
two prev ious installments on the com­
mitment arranged by Hatfield, has
been awarded to the State of Oregon
between January of 1991 and April of
1993 to se n e dislocated timber work­
ers.
“I’m encouraged by the Clinton
Adm inistration’s efforts to uphold the
commitments made during the previ­
ous administration. Timber employ­
ment levels in Oregon arc at their
lowest levels in recorded history and Deputy Sla'e Treasurer Gary
the federal government, which has Bruebar.er
imposed the restriction that have dis­
State T reasurer Jim Hill an ­
placed so many workers, plays a key
nounced today that Gary Brucbakcr
role in providing the necessary' assis­
will be his Deputy State Treasurer.
tance to guide the transition ”
B rucbakcr has been the a c tin g
Deputy State Treasurer since Trea­
surer Hill took office. As Deputy,
Packwood Makes Stops
In Ontario And Baker City;
Budget Deficit, Taxes And Wa-
:rshed Focus O f The Day
O n the first day of his swing
hrough E astern O regon, O regon
lenator Bob Packwood spoke to a
rowd of about 90 people at anO ntario
Chamber of Commerce luncheon, vis-
ted a truck brokerage company, and
eceived a briefing on the Baker City
nunicipal watershed
During his stop at the Idaho-Or-
:gon Truck Stop, Packwood learned
irsthand how the fuel tax contained
n the Clinton tax package will affect
msinesses and citizens in the Ontario
irea. John Duvall of Action Truck
3rokerage noted that the new 4.3 cents
)er gallon gasoline tax included in the
Zlinton tax plan would make life on
h e road even tougher for trucking
new post of health administrator w ho
would study issues relating to the
employer mandate and look at alter­
native wavs to ensure ev ery body has
access to health care.’’
And early on there was much
disagreement on how the plan would
be funded The gov ernor and Senate
w ¡shed to raise new rev enues through
a prov ider tax and a cigarette tax. But
this ran into conflict with the intent of
the plans architect, John Kitzhaber,
that funding here would compete w ith
other state agencies for available re­
sources. In the House, HB 3684 passed
w hich in part uses lottery dollars to
fund the Oregon Health Plan, and this
approach satisfied both Mr Kitzhaber
and the business community.
All of these discussions and con­
troversies brought the “poor” back
into the act. Many, who never in their
political or business careers had cause
to shed a tear for the disadvantaged.
Brucbakcr w ill be responsible for the
day-to-day m anagement of the T rea­
sury operations. Brucbakcr has ex­
tensive know ledge of and experience
with Treasury operations as former
Director ofT reasury's Cash M anage­
ment Division Prior to working for
the Treasury, Bruebaker was the Con­
troller of the Oregon Housi ng Agency
and was a Senior Auditor for the
Secretary of State’s Division of Au­
dits. Bruebaker is a Certified Cash
M anager and a Certified Public Ac­
countant and recently received the
Award for Distinction in Financial
M anagem ent Im provem ents from
U S. Secretary of the Treasury, Lloyd
Bentsen.
Darren Bond will replace Mr
Brucbakcr as the Director of Cash
Management. Bond has been the act­
ing Director since January 1993 and
is responsible for providing state-
w ide banking services for state
agencies. Bond is a Certified Cash
M anager and has been with the T rea­
sury since 1989. Prior to his working
for the Treasury, Bond was a Vice
President for First National Bank of
Anchorage.
Randall Edwards was also ap­
pointed to be the Executive Assistant
to the Treasurer, a position he has
filled since January 1993 Edw ards’
responsibilities include public and leg­
islative affairs and project coordina­
tion. Edw ards has an MBA and
worked in Washington, D C.
“I am very confident that Mr.
Bruebaker, Mr. BOND, AND MR.
Edwards will serve Oregon and the
Treasury very well. They have dem ­
onstrated ov er the last eight months
that they can make a significant, posi­
tive impact on Treasury and state
operations,” Hill said.
Governor’s Developmental Disabilities
Council Seeks New Members
The Oregon Dev elopmental Dis­
abilities Council is seeking advocates
for people with developmental dis­
abilities to serve on the Council.
Self-advocates., parents of chil­
dren with developmental disabilities
and advocacy organizations that rep­
resent individuals w ith developmen­
tal disabilities arc encouraged to ap­
ply. Members are selected based on
their know 1 edge and i merest in dcvcl -
opmcntal disabilities in accordance
with federal guidelines governing
m em bership T he Council seeks
people who represent different ethnic
backgrounds, different geographic
regions of the state and a variety of
developmental disabilities.
Individuals interested in apply­
ing for a position on the Council must
com plete an interest application.
Members serv e three year terms. In­
terest applications must be received
by the Council office prior to Septem­
ber 30 and can be obtained by contact­
ing the Oregon Developmental Dis­
abilities Council at 373-7555 (Sa­
lem) or 1-800-292-4154 (Oregon).
ThcO regon Developmental Dis­
abilities Council is a federally-man­
dated program whose members are
appointed by the Governor. The Coun­
cil advocates for O regonians with
developmental disabilities and pro­
vides community education and pub­
lic awareness about tire needs of people
with developmental disabilities and
their families.
A developmental disability is a
sev ere and lasting mental and/orphysi-
cal in.pairment which occurs prior to
the age of 22 and is likely to continue
indefinitely. The disability results in
substantial functional limitations in
major life activities, such as self-care,
speaking, understanding language,
learning, mobility, ability to make
decisions, living alone and financial
independence.
For more information about the
Oregon Development Disabilities
Council please contact the Council at
373-7555 (Salem) or 1 -800-292-4154
(Oregon).
New Service System For Children
And Families Becomes Law
House Bill 2004, signed into
law by Governor Roberts this week,
establishes a new sen ice sy stem for
children in Oregon. For information
on the impact of this legislation, its
implementation, cr the creation of
the new State Commission on C hil­
dren and Families, contacts arc:
Oregon Commission on
Children and Families
John Ball, Rita Trev ino Flynn,
Steve Nelson, Jeff Nunn
Phone: 373-1283
HB 2004 H ighlights:
Creates a new State Commission
on Children and Families, sepa­
rate from the Department of Hu­
man Resources, and abolishes
the Oregon Community Children
and Youth Serv ices Commission
(OCCYSOC) The new State
Commission will be staffed by
the staff of the former OCCYSC
HB 2004 also creates new county
commissions on children and
families and abolishes the county
children and youth services of
commissions. The Boards of
County Commissioners will ap­
point new local commissions on
or before February 1, 1994.
Effectiv e July 1, 1995, HB 2004
will create a new State Office for
Scrv ice to Children and Fam i­
lies in the Department of Hu­
man Resources It transfers cer­
tain duties and powers of the
Children s Services Division
(CSD) to the new State Office.
Oregon “SAT” Scores Increase
Oregon scores on the Scholastic
Aptitude Test, which measures stu­
dent preparedness for college based
on application of verbal and m ath­
ematical skills, climbed to their high­
est total since 1972 The math score
reached a record high and scores for
minorities including Blacks. Native
Americans, Hispanics and Asians,
increased
For the third year in a row, O r­
egon is number one of the 23 slates in
which at least 40 percent of their
graduates took the tests
Oregon s college-bound Class of
1993 scored 492 on the math test, up
6 points, and 441 on the verbal test, up
2 points The national math score was
478, up 2 points, while the verbal
score was 424, up 1 point
The scores increased w ith a high­
er percentage of students taking the
test The College Board, which ad­
ministers the SAT, said scores gener­
ally go down as the percentage in­
creases
“ I’m pleased by any national in­
dicator that shows academic improve­
ment.” said State School Supt Norina
Paulus "T here’s no question that
O regon's college-bound students can
compete vv ith students from any state
“However, we need to view these
scores in perspective,” said Paulus.
"W e need to keep our focus on all
students, especially the 44 percent
who did not take the SAT.”
Oregon males scored 518 on the
math test, up 7 points, and 442 on the
verbal test, the same as the previous
year Oregon females scored 468 on
the math test, up 4 points, and 441 on
the verbal test, up 5 points
Paulus said out-of school factors,
such as family income and parental
education, affect scores As family
income and parental education in­
crease. so do test scores.
The College Board, which ad­
ministers the SAT. reports school
results only to participating schools
It said some schools may not have
received their scores when national
results were released