OHP Premium to be Cut - my take

Political Notebook
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
The Oregonian (available here until roughly 10 Aug 2005)
Bill cutting health plan premium clears House

SALEM -- The poorest adults insured under the Oregon Health Plan would not have to pay a premium under a bill headed for the governor's desk.

Senate Bill 782, which passed the House unanimously Tuesday eliminates the $6 monthly premium for clients with incomes below 10 percent of the federal poverty line -- $77 a month for individuals and $112 for couples.

The Department of Human Services has charged premiums for the health plan since 1995, but in 2001 when lawmakers created the "standard" program, which provides limited health insurance for low-income adults, the rules for premiums were tightened. A recipient who missed two payments would be kicked off the plan for six months.

Last year, responding to budget cuts, the program was closed to new members, so anyone who loses eligibility cannot get back on the plan. SB 782 also relaxes the rules for premium payments for recipients with incomes up to the federal poverty level.

Supporters of keeping the premiums argued that everyone, even the poorest of the poor, can and should contribute something to their own health care. But critics of the policy say it punishes the most vulnerable Oregonians and pushes them into more expensive emergency rooms for care.

The bill means it will take longer for DHS to reach its target for reducing membership in the standard plan. The agency says it can afford to sustain 23,900 people on the plan. Currently about 25,700 people are enrolled. Eliminating premiums will lower revenues. As a result, plan can afford to insure fewer people. But at the same time, the bill will allow more people to stay enrolled.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski will sign the bill, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

-- James Mayer

They just can't get over whining about how this is going to hurt others! In other words, because someone with $77 of monthly income (and remember, that's before any taxes or deductions of most any kind including housing payments, food, utilities, etc) is unable/unwilling to $6/mo they are somehow responsible for another poor person not getting any health care. This sounds a lot like blame the victim to me.

Let's see, if 25,700 each paid $6/mo then they have $154,200. Now I know that it's only a percentage of those 25,700 people (including myself, btw), who would only pay the $6, or more to the point, won't be paying the $6. Let's say it's a wopping 10% who fall below the magic 10% of FPL ($77/mo), then I'd like to know exactly how many more people they could add to the plan for $15,426. I can tell you that it sounds more like the amount of a senior manager's monthly salary. And how much do they spend accounting for each $6 premium? Hmmmm? I have a nagging suspicion that when you put in overhead, that number almost vanishes.

Next, keep in mind that you have to mail the premium by check. How many people living on $77/mo have a checking account? If not, then the cost goes up to buy a money order or you have to find someone to make the payment for you. Then, if you do that, you have to explain to every other program you get help from (food stamps, housing, etc) where the $6 comes from. So, in the case of Food Stamps, DHS then has to verify the information - an employee contacts the person making the payment for the client, needs to get a statement in writing, etc. So how much is DHS spending there? And what's really funny is that yet another DHS program pays my $6 premium for me each month, but I'm in a very small minority of people receiving this help.

Simply put, premiums had one REAL use, to get people off OHP. After all, how did the program shrink from over 200,000 to 25,700?

Talk about much ado about nearly nothing!