The Changing of the Guard - The New Washington |
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by Emily Katz, It is official…change has come to Washington, D.C. I was among a record crowd of nearly two million people who visited the National Mall January 20 to celebrate President Obama’s inauguration.Already there have been several health policy changes at the federal level that will have a positive impact on CareOregon’s current and future members. We were very lucky to have the Bruce Davidson photo exhibit of our members displayed on Capitol Hill during such an interesting time in Congress and for our country (see related story). It is clear now more then ever that there are people behind the numbers. CHIP Former President Bush twice vetoed the CHIP legislation passed by both the House and Senate in 2008. On February 3, 2009, as one of his first health care acts as president, the program was reauthorized by Barack Obama for 4.5 years, paid for by a $.62 cent increase in the federal tobacco tax. The CHIP bill extends coverage to 4 million children across the country who are now uninsured, and would add an estimated 42,700 onto CHIP in Oregon. Oregon currently has around 44,000 children enrolled in CHIP, 14,000 of whom are enrolled in CareOregon. Due to the coverage expansion, CareOregon will likely see more CHIP eligible children enrolled on our plan. Economic Recovery PackageAlthough the jury is out on exactly how much Oregon will stand to gain over the next two or more years from the Economic Recovery Package signed by the president on February 17, we do know that the money is desperately needed to help fill some major gaps in Oregon’s budget. The Obama administration is saying that Oregon will gain 44,000 jobs from this bill, and save an untold amount of jobs from being lost. Oregon’s new Senator Jeff Merkley says the state stands to get between $2 billion and $3 billion in direct aid over two to three years, according to most of the breakdowns of the package he has seen. The $789 billion compromise economic recovery package includes a number of provisions related to health care spending. Among other provisions, the bill includes: $87 billion in additional federal Medicaid matching funds for states (FMAP). Under the provision, states will receive the funds over 27 months. Oregon will get around $800 million. $24.7 billion for federal subsidies to cover 65 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums under COBRA for as long as nine months. $19 billion for health care information technology, with $17 billion for investments and incentives through Medicare and Medicaid and $2 billion for a discretionary fund for grants and loans; the provision also requires the federal government “to take a leadership role” to develop interoperability standards for health care IT by 2010. $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research for medications and medical devices. $191 million to eliminate a proposed reduction in Medicare reimbursements to teaching hospitals for FY09 for indirect medical education (IME). $460 million for a temporary increase in Medicaid payments (DSH) to hospitals that treat large numbers of uninsured or underinsured patients. $1.3 billion for Transitional Medical Assistance (TMA), a program within TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) that allows families to maintain their Medicaid coverage temporarily when they start a new job and earn income that would otherwise render them ineligible. As of November, 2008, almost 22,000 children and 10,000 adults (31,580) CareOregon members rely on TANF and the ability to use TMA. $550 million to extend the low-income subsidy program that helps low-income Medicare beneficiaries cover the cost of Part B premiums. $1.87 billion for community health centers for health center construction, renovation and equipment, with additional $500 million for services.
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