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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2017)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Thursday, October 5, 2017 Poll: Majority oppose state tax on health care By PARIS ACHEN Capital Bureau SALEM — Most Oregonians oppose a proposed $600 million tax on health insurance policy premiums to fund the state’s Medicaid program, according to a survey by icitizen. About 58 percent of 645 respondents surveyed online by the Nashville pollster said they oppose the tax, while 35 percent support it. Icitizen did not verify whether respondents were registered voters, only that they were Oregon resident. Three Republican lawmakers want to refer parts of the law — which raises a variety of revenues to help the state pay for the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s version of Medicaid. “We have not done any polling so I have nothing to compare it to, but I would say it is consistent with feedback we have received from folks who signed the petition,” said state Rep. Julie Parrish, R-West Linn, who spearheaded a petition for the referral. Petitioners must gather nearly 59,000 signatures by Oct. 5 to place the referral on the ballot for a January special election. ‘Connect the dots’ The survey asked respondents: “There is an effort to refer Oregon voters a new, nearly $600 million tax on health insurance policy premiums. The money is intended to cover the costs of the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program. Would you support this new tax on health insurance premiums?” Parrish said the repeal represents only $380 million out of the $600 million tax. “We’re not referring the entire thing,” she said. Petitioners, who include Parrish and Republican state Reps. Sal Esquivel of Medford and Cedric Hayden of Roseburg, want to repeal a 0.7 percent tax on hospitals and providers. Other sections of the law they want to refer to voters are taxes on insurers, the Public Employees Benefits Board and coordinated care organizations, regional provider networks for Medicaid patients. They also want to stop a provision of the law that allows insurers to increase premiums by up to 1.5 percent to recover costs of the insurer assessment. Patty Wentz, spokesperson for the Oregon Health Care Coalition, said the poll appears to be timed to achieve a political end. “Let’s connect some dots. You have a push poll with wildly inaccurate information released a few days before signature turn-in by a political operative who has been supported by the same extreme right-wing groups as the chief petitioner, such as the Oregon Firearms Federation,” Wentz said. “This is a cynical political ploy with no relevance to reality, to the actual referendum, and what’s at stake for the one million Oregonians who count on the Oregon Health Plan and the more than 210,000 people whose premiums will increase if the referendum doesn’t pass. Oregonians who want accurate information should read the ballot title BRIEFLY Confederate monuments near Vancouver to lose historic status and the fiscal impact estimate that were created through a bi-partisan public process and are posted online.” Split on support for DACA Respondents, who were registered users of icitizen, filled out the online survey online between Sept. 13 and 28. The responses were weighted to U.S. Census benchmarks for gender, age, race, education, region and party identification in the state. The margin of error is 3.9 percent for the full sample of 645 respondents. The survey also gauged Oregonians’ views on other state policies. A new law expanding coverage of reproductive health care, including abortion, to people of all incomes, U.S. citizenship status and gender identity garnered 49 percent support and 50 percent opposition. Respondents also were almost evenly split over a new law to reduce criminal penalties for possession of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine from a felony to a misdemeanor. A majority of respondents, 54 percent, oppose sanctuary cities, which prohibit police from profiling immigrants and from assisting federal authorities in enforcing federal immigration law. More than half of respondents, 51 percent, support ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The program allows undocumented youth brought to the country as children to legally work and attend school here. —— Pamplin Media/EO Media Group Capital Bureau reporter Claire Withycombe contributed to this story. VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — County officials in Vancouver, Washington, have voted to remove highway markers honoring Confederate President Jefferson Davis from the Clark County Heritage Register. The Columbian reports the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission voted on the delisting Tuesday night. The commissioners said the marker, which was installed in Vancouver in 1939, failed meet established standards for a community heritage site. Commissioner Alex Gall said the marker also lost its historic integrity when it was moved from its original spot to its current home on private property along Interstate 5 near Ridgefield. The marker and a similar piece of granite originally installed in Blaine, near the Canadian border, now are part of Jefferson Davis Park which also includes Confederate flags. The voting followed almost 90 minutes of public testimony, with comments in support and against the heritage register designation. Audit: DHS should improve oversight of in-home care By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau SALEM — Lack of oversight, data gaps, and overworked case managers could continue to put low-income Oregonians receiving in-home care at risk, state auditors said in a Wednesday report. Auditors from the Oregon Secre- tary of State’s Office said the Oregon Department of Human Services should take “immediate action” to improve in-home care for seniors and people with disabilities in a program serving about 13,000 people. DHS offers several in-home care programs for seniors and people with disabilities. The program that auditors focused on is the Consumer-Employed Provider, or CEP, program. About 13,230 people are enrolled in the CEP program, which allows low-income seniors and people with disabilities to choose their own home- care workers. The program is for people who qualify for Medicaid, which is paid for both by the state and the federal govern- ment. When a person is enrolled in the CEP program, he or she has two main people on their team: a case manager from DHS who handles administrative func- tions like evaluating the person’s needs, and a homecare worker who does the day-to-day work of in-home care, such as preparing meals and administering medications. A key part of the CEP program is that the people receiving in-home care are also employers: they hire, train and dismiss their own in-home care workers. But an information vacuum puts the agency at risk of missing when people in the CEP program need more help, according to the audit. State and federal rules stipulate that case managers monitor CEP program participants, but auditors found that a third of patients they surveyed for the audit didn’t get all of the required check-ins from a case manager in 2016. Two-thirds never received an in-person visit, other than an annual assessment. Home visits by case managers are not required, but can help case managers — and the state — keep closer tabs on whether in-home care recipients are getting what they need. The agency is required to conduct a risk assessment when it initiates a service plan for an in-home care recip- ient, but auditors found cases where case managers didn’t do an initial risk assessment. Patients found to be higher-risk require more contacts from case managers. Auditors said that in the cases they reviewed, “insufficient documentation” prevented them from determining whether high-risk patients got the additional required contact with case managers. The data that the agency does collect focuses more on case manager perfor- mance than on the welfare of people receiving services, auditors said. “There is no aspect of the quality assurance process or consumer moni- toring or assessment reports that looks at consumers’ well-being,”the auditors wrote. Didn’t receive your paper? Call 1-800-522-0255 before noon Tuesday through Friday or before 10 a.m. Saturday for same-day redelivery 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays SUBSCRIPTION RATES Local home delivery Savings off cover price EZPay $14.50 41 percent 52 weeks $173.67 41 percent 26 weeks $91.86 38 percent 13 weeks $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge www.eastoregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and Dec. 25, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. SEATTLE (AP) — An immigration judge in Washington state declined to release an Iraq War veteran from custody Wednesday while he fights the government’s efforts to deport him. Chong Kim, a South Korean immigrant and green card holder from Portland, struggled Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday TODAY FRIDAY Partly to mostly sunny Mostly sunny and pleasant 68° 42° 76° 50° SATURDAY Partly sunny, breezy and cooler SUNDAY Mostly sunny and cool Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 • fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com REGIONAL CITIES PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 64° 45° 61° 36° 61° 36° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 78° 51° 70° 40° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 60° 69° 90° (1892) 35° 44° 27° (1916) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.00" 0.05" 0.13" 12.34" 8.09" 9.07" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH Yesterday Normals Records LOW 63° 71° 87° (1958) 32° 42° 26° (2012) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.00" 0.03" 0.07" 7.04" 5.44" 6.63" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Full Last Oct 5 Oct 12 New Oct 19 67° 37° 66° 34° Seattle 70/48 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 69° 47° 6:59 a.m. 6:28 p.m. 6:53 p.m. 6:39 a.m. First Oct 27 Today MONDAY Sunny to partly cloudy and cool Spokane Wenatchee 65/42 68/43 Tacoma Moses 70/38 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 70/37 64/41 70/46 72/39 73/35 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 73/43 69/47 Lewiston 71/40 Astoria 68/43 70/45 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 74/46 Pendleton 61/36 The Dalles 70/40 68/42 75/41 La Grande Salem 63/36 75/43 Albany Corvallis 74/40 75/42 John Day 65/39 Ontario Eugene Bend 66/35 74/41 66/37 Caldwell Burns 64/36 63/25 Astoria Baker City Bend Brookings Burns Enterprise Eugene Heppner Hermiston John Day Klamath Falls La Grande Meacham Medford Newport North Bend Ontario Pasco Pendleton Portland Redmond Salem Spokane Ukiah Vancouver Walla Walla Yakima Hi 70 64 66 68 63 61 74 66 70 65 67 63 61 78 66 69 66 71 68 74 67 75 65 61 74 69 73 Lo 45 28 37 51 25 36 41 43 40 39 30 36 35 42 46 47 35 38 42 46 29 43 42 34 45 47 35 W s pc s s pc pc s s s pc s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Fri. Hi 63 73 76 71 73 70 76 74 78 75 76 73 71 83 64 67 71 78 76 72 78 75 67 71 72 76 75 Lo 49 33 38 52 31 44 43 47 51 42 33 45 43 45 48 48 38 48 50 51 34 47 46 40 51 52 42 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W pc s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s s pc s pc pc s pc s pc WORLD CITIES Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Hi 71 92 75 62 72 49 65 76 74 80 67 Lo 50 82 61 46 54 42 44 60 57 64 61 W s sh s pc pc r sh s pc pc pc Fri. Hi 74 91 74 59 71 49 60 74 69 72 67 Lo 53 82 59 47 53 41 42 53 59 55 62 W s t s pc pc r s pc r pc r WINDS Medford 78/42 (in mph) Klamath Falls 67/30 Boardman Pendleton REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Plenty of sun today; pleas- ant. Mainly clear tonight. Eastern and Central Oregon: Partly sunny today; however, sunnier near the Cascades. Clear tonight. Western Washington: Sunshine today. Mainly clear tonight; however, mostly cloudy at the coast. Eastern Washington: Partly to mostly sunny today. Clear to partly cloudy tonight. Partly sunny tomorrow. Cascades: Sunny today. Clear tonight. Sunny to partly cloudy tomorrow; pleasant. Northern California: Plenty of sunshine today. Cold in the interior mountains; pleas- ant in central parts. Today Friday WNW 3-6 NW 4-8 WSW 7-14 WSW 8-16 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. 1 PORTLAND (AP) — A grand jury has indicted a 22-year-old man in the death of another man who was found at the base of a northeast Portland cliff. The Portland Police Bureau says a Multnomah County grand jury on Thursday indicted Avonte Armstead on one charge of murder. Police say the body of Irving Batalla was found July 7, 2015. The Oregon State Medical Examiner performed an autopsy and determined Batalla died of blunt force injuries. Police say an investigation found that Armstead killed Batalla. Police say Armstead is being extradited from a jail in Carson City, Nevada, to Multnomah County Jail. Corrections Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group Forecast Man indicted for murder in death of man found at cliff base The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818. ADVERTISING Advertising Director: Marissa Williams 541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com Advertising Services: Laura Jensen 541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Kimberly Macias 541-278-2683 • kmacias@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — Judge won’t release Iraq War veteran fighting deportation with drug addition, homelessness and post- traumatic stress following his time in Iraq in 2009 and 2010, leading to convictions for burglary and other charges. Kim’s lawyer and friends have said he has done well since completing a substance abuse treatment program run by the Department of Veterans Affairs early this year. But immigration agents arrested him in April and brought him to a detention center in Tacoma, Washington. They plan to deport him because of his convictions. “It’s just wrong to be deporting an Army veteran,” said Matt Luce, 41, of Troutdale, who attended high school with Kim and traveled with three other former classmates to the hearing. “Despite his convictions, he was on and continues to be on the right path. This is just a travesty of justice.” 2 3 3 2 1 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 0-2, Low 3-5, Moderate 6-7, High; 8-10, Very High; 11+, Extreme The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num- ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017 -10s -0s showers t-storms 0s 10s rain 20s flurries 30s 40s snow ice 50s 60s cold front 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low National Summary: Drenching rain and storms are forecast from part of the Midwest to the southern Rockies. Downpours will riddle the Florida Peninsula and part of South Texas. Rain and snow will fall on the northern Rockies. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 101° in Tucson, Ariz. Low 2° in Bodie State Park, Calif. NATIONAL CITIES Today Albuquerque Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Chicago Cleveland Dallas Denver Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Fargo Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Los Angeles Hi 78 83 78 82 57 85 64 80 84 80 72 79 88 67 77 89 51 63 88 88 76 83 76 86 86 83 Lo 60 62 67 61 39 62 41 59 66 56 59 61 68 48 56 70 34 39 74 66 64 74 64 62 63 62 W t s s s pc s pc pc pc s r c pc c s pc c s pc s c pc r s pc s Fri. Hi 80 83 79 83 66 87 70 72 86 84 70 76 89 63 66 93 47 59 85 89 79 83 77 87 87 91 Lo 46 67 66 60 48 71 45 58 70 55 64 64 70 41 60 61 37 44 73 67 66 74 57 62 67 66 Today W pc s pc pc s s s sh pc pc r r s sh r s c pc pc s c t t s pc s Louisville Memphis Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York City Oklahoma City Omaha Philadelphia Phoenix Portland, ME Providence Raleigh Rapid City Reno Sacramento St. Louis Salt Lake City San Diego San Francisco Seattle Tucson Washington, DC Wichita Hi 81 86 83 68 63 86 85 82 82 70 83 99 76 81 83 60 69 84 82 65 76 74 70 99 84 76 Lo 62 64 80 56 48 59 71 64 66 59 66 70 53 59 56 40 40 48 65 44 61 55 48 68 65 66 W pc pc t r r s s pc pc r pc s pc pc pc pc s s c s pc s s s s t Fri. Hi 86 87 89 69 61 87 87 74 84 67 81 99 71 75 85 58 76 88 81 64 81 79 65 96 84 85 Lo 66 70 81 62 52 66 75 63 59 53 66 67 48 58 60 42 43 51 66 46 62 55 51 59 66 56 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W pc pc t r r pc s c c sh pc s c sh s pc s s c s s s pc s pc t
