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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2015)
A6 News B lu e Moun t a in E ag l e W edn e sd ay , S ep t emb e r 23 , 2015 O r e g on t e s t in g M ed i c a id en r o l lm en t s y s t em By H i l la ry Bo r rud C ap i t a l Bu r e au O regon i s te s t ing a mod - i f ied ve r s ion o f Ken tucky ’ s on l ine Med ica id en ro l lmen t sy s tem and o f f ic ia l s hope i t w i l l be ready fo r the pub l ic to u se in ea r ly 2016 . Tha t mean s O regon m igh t f ina l ly be ab le to au toma te i t s p roce s s to sc reen app l i - can t s fo r Med ica id e l ig ib i l i - ty and en ro l l them in the p ro - g ram , two o f the func t ion s tha t we re suppo sed to be in - c luded in the Cove r O regon hea l th in su rance exchange po r ta l . Tha t sy s tem fa i led to launch in 2013 , so the O r - egon Hea l th Au tho r i ty ha s in s tead u sed an on l ine PDF app l ica t ion to mee t the fed - e ra l requ i remen t tha t s ta te s prov ide an on l ine Med ica id app l ica t ion . The re a re cu r ren t ly mo re than 1 m i l l ion low - income O regon ian s en ro l led in the O regon Hea l th P lan , wh ich i s the s ta te ’ s Med ica id p ro - g ram . The s ta te s t i l l emp loy s hund red s o f l im i ted -du ra t ion s ta f f to manua l ly de te rm ine Med ica id app l ican t s ’ e l ig i - bi l i ty and en ro l l them in the prog ram . A l though Ken tucky p ro - v ided i t s p rog ramm ing code to O regon fo r f ree , s ta te agenc ie s in O regon have budge ted app rox ima te ly $62 m i l l ion to adap t the prog ram and imp lemen t i t he re , acco rd ing to S tepha - n ie T r ipp , a spoke swoman fo r the O regon Hea l th Au - tho r i ty . The budge t inc lude s the co s t o f a con t rac t w i th De lo i t te Con su l t ing , wh ich i s wo rk ing w i th s ta te em - ployee s to make ad ju s tmen t s to the Ken tucky sy s tem . O regon is us ing the fede ra l hea l th insu rance exchange , Hea l thca re .gov , seen above , fo r peop le seek ing p r iva te insu rance , and w i l l con t inue to do so f ree o f cha rge th rough 2016 . The s ta te and con su l tan t a re te s t ing O regon ’ s ve r s ion o f the sy s tem and w i l l a l so deve lop a t ra in ing p lan fo r s ta te s ta f f who w i l l u se the techno logy . “W e expec t the sy s tem to become ava i lab le to O rego - n ian s who a re app ly ing fo r ( the O regon Hea l th P lan ) fo r the f i r s t t ime in ea r ly 2016 ,” T r ipp w ro te in an ema i l . “Howeve r , fo r O rego - n ian s who a re cu r ren t OHP membe r s , they w i l l be a sked to renew the i r cove rage th rough ou r cu r ren t renewa l p roce s s .” O regon i s u s ing the fed - e ra l hea l th in su rance ex - change , Hea l thca re .gov , fo r peop le seek ing p r iva te in - su rance , and w i l l con t inue to do so f ree o f cha rge th rough 2016 . The O regon Depa r tmen t o f Con sume r and Bu s ine s s Se rv ice s , wh ich took ove r managemen t o f O regon ’ s hea l th in su rance ma rke t - p lace in Ju ly , wa s unab le to p rov ide an upda ted to ta l co s t fo r the Cove r O regon p ro jec t by dead l ine th i s week . How - eve r , The A s soc ia ted P re s s repo r ted ea r ly th i s yea r tha t O regon spen t $300 m i l l ion in fede ra l money and a t lea s t $26 m i l l ion in s ta te fund s to deve lop and ma rke t the Cov - e r O regon exchange . Mo s t o f the fede ra l money wen t to tech company O rac le wh ich bu i l t the exchange . O regon a l so spen t m i l l ion s o f do l la r s a s se s s ing whe ther i t cou ld sa lvage the Cove r O regon exchange , and had spen t $9 .1 m i l l ion by the end o f 2014 fo r hund red s o f wo rke r s to p roce s s paper hea l th in su rance app l ica - t ion s , The A s soc ia ted P re s s repo r ted . S ince then , lawmake r s app roved a $30 .5 m i l l ion two -yea r budge t fo r the De - pa r tmen t o f Con sume r and Bu s ine s s Se rv ice s to man - age the exchange and a $2 .3 m i l l ion two -yea r budge t to ma rke t and p romo te the in - su rance web s i te s . The s ta te ha s con t in - ued to pay O rac le to u se a po r t ion o f the Cove r O re - gon sy s tem to a l low on l ine Med ica id app l ica t ion s . That co s t wa s unava i lab le , and i t ’ s a l so unc lea r whe the r the s ta te can s top pay ing O ra - c le a f te r O regon comp le te s the t ran s i t ion to Ken tucky ’ s sy s tem . The s ta te ha s spen t at lea s t $4 .6 m i l l ion on lega l se rv ice s , mo s t ly to de fen d the s ta te aga in s t law su i t s f i led by O rac le and to pu r - sue i t s own law su i t aga in s t the company , acco rd ing to documen t s p rov ided by the O regon Depa r tmen t o f Ju s - t ice and O regon Hou se Re - pub l ican s . O regon ha s a l so incu r red some o f i t s lega l b i l l s re spond ing to inqu i r ie s f rom Cong re s s and the U .S . Depa r tmen t o f Ju s t ice . Church Serv ices In Gran t Coun ty
