Skip to main contentAfter booting 135,000 people from the Oregon Health Plan in the past year, state officials have found a way to get some of them on a much better insurance plan.
Last week, the state Family Health Insurance Assistance Program finalized plans to boost its enrollment--from 6,000 current clients to as many as 15,000.
For Oregonians who have been uninsured for at least six months and earn less than $17,000 per year, FHIAP pays at least 50 percent of a client's private health-insurance premiums. In other words, FHIAP offers the poorest Oregonians high-quality name-brand health care at a fraction of the cost. Most FHIAP clients pay only 5 percent of their premiums, or roughly $14 per month.
"Our clients like having a private insurance card," says FHIAP boss Kelly Harms. "Nobody knows they're getting any public help, and they have better access to care."
Harms says FHIAP decided to expand enrollment after a budget review showed more available cash than expected in the agency's $23.6 million annual budget. "What this means for our clients is that they're not going to have to wait anymore," Harms says. "We used to have a reservation list, and it would be six to 12 months before someone got an application. Somebody calling now will get it within a few weeks."
Not everyone finds the news so completely sunny. Ellen Pinney, executive director of the Oregon Health Action Campaign, applauds the news of improved health care for some uninsured Oregonians but thinks the funds could be better used elsewhere. "We might as well be enrolling people in the Oregon Health Plan, where the cost is a lot less," Pinney says.
WWeek 2015