Page 20__________________________
"n* Portland Observer
B 1 3C k H ¡S tory
M on t h
_________________
Februaiy 22, 2012
Red Cross Helps House Fire Victims
M cM ENAM INS MISSION THEATER
OREGON ENCYCLOPEDIA
Fires are biggest
disaster threat
=
HISTORY NIGHT =
SPONSOR'! Wli)'i'il.t»)R<ilRk'X’l:ST EXAMINER
O regon Red C ross volunteers
responded to at least six hom e fires
in the Portland area in recent days,
providing hum anitarian assistance,
free o f charge, to 13 adults, 16 c h il
dren and four pets displaced by
these fires.
WEST
DURING THE CIVIL WAR ERA
FEBRUARY 13, 2012
P r e s e n ta tio n by
»
RICHARD W. ETULA1N
Educator and historian, specializing in the .American West
and Abraham Lincoln. .Author of /.iuio/ii Look* West (2010,
and forthcoming study of Lincoln and the Oregon Country.
7 p.m. • Free • M inors welcome with parent
14 .IfL 'V llItV fV UICCAV TLJL ATLD
T erry F amily
F uneral
H ome
—
.
T he assistance included im m ed i
ate lodging, food, clothing, com fort
kits, and inform ation on health and
m ental health services. O ne child
required special needs acco m m o
d atio n s.
U nfortunately, the response w as
not un iq u e, becau se the b ig g est
disaster threat to fam ilies across
O reg o n is not w in ter storm s o r
floods. It is hom e fires.
‘ “ H undreds o f fam ilies are a f
fected every year by this d ev astat
ing personal disaster," said M aree
W acker, regional ex ecu tiv e o f the
O regon R ed C ross.
Red Cross disaster relief focuses on meeting people's immediate
emergency disaster-caused needs.
L ast year, the O reg o n R ed C ross
re sp o n d e d to a lm o st 6 0 0 h o m e
fires a c ro ss o u r state. T h a t’s an
a v e ra g e o f a lm o st tw ice e ac h an d
e v ery d ay th a t R ed C ro ss v o lu n
te ers are a ssistin g fa m ilie s w h o
hav e no p lace e lse to tu rn in th e
im m e d ia te a fte rm a th o f a d e v a s
ta tin g fire.
One w om an, w ho was helped last
year by the Oregon Red Cross follow-
Insurance Interruption Endangers Health
P atients lacking coverage receive few er tests, vaccines
W hen patients w ith diabetes e x
perience in terru p tio n s in health-
insurance coverage, they are less
likely to recei ve the screening tests
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Portland, Or 97227
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Oregon License CO-3644
Amy S. Terry
O regon License FS-0395
ing a fire in a condom inium com plex,
said, "I didn't even know (the Red
C ross) responded to things like this.
N ot only did the Red C ross give me
a place to stay, but I had a headache
that night, and a volunteer w ent out
o f her w ay to find m edicine for me.
She also helped me see it w asn't ju st
about me, and that changed my per
spective on the event. I really ben
efited in that sense."
Rachel Gold
and vaccines they need to protect
their health.
A new study finds that this is
true ev en w hen patients receive free
or reduced-cost m edical care at fed
erally funded safety net clinics.
“O ur study shows that patients
need continuous health insurance
coverage in order to ensure adequate
preventive care, even w hen that care
is provided at a reduced cost,” said
Rachel G old, lead author and investi
gator w ith the K aiser Perm anente
C enter for Health Research in Port
land.
“M ost o f the services at o ur safety
net clinics are free, but som e o f the
diagnostic tests require a sm all c o
pay that is usually covered by M ed
icaid,” said Dr. A m it Shah, study c o
author and m edical directo r o f the
M ultnom ah C ounty H ealth D ep art
m ent. “ P atients w ho lose their M ed
icaid coverage often delay g etting
the tests because they c a n ’t afford
the co -p ay .”
The study included 3,384 diabetes
patients receiving m edical care at 50
federally qualified health centers in
Oregon. R esearchers exam ined pa
tients’ electronic health records to
determ ine w hether they received four
services recom m ended at least annu
ally for diabetes patients: a lipid test
for high cholesterol, a flu vaccine, a
test that m easures blood sugar lev
els, and a urine test that can detect
kidney dam age.
F orty-eight percent o f patients
w ith continuous insurance c o v er
age receiv ed at least three lip id
screening tests at one o f the study
clinics over the th ree-y ear study
period; 25 p ercent received three o r
m ore flu shots; 72 p ercent received
three o r m ore screenings fo r blood
glucose; and 19 percent received
three o r m ore screenings fo r kidney
dam age. Patients w ith no coverage,
and patients w ith interruptions in
c o v e ra g e , re c eiv e d sig n ific a n tly
few er o f these services than p a
tients w ith continuous health in sur
ance coverage.
N otably, the study show ed no
increase in services received as in
surance coverage increased; rather,
all p a tie n ts w ith d is c o n tin u o u s
health insurance w ere equally v u l
nerable to m issing services, c o m
pared to the co ntinuously insured.
T hese findings suggest that public
insurance coverage m ust be co n
tinuous to ensure that patients re
ceiv e co n sisten t and tim ely care.