Governor Announces Healthy Kids Plan Public Meetings

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Oregon's Governor visiting with Salem area kids Photo By: Tim King

(SALEM) - Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski has announced that the Oregon Medicaid Advisory Committee will hold a series of public meetings to introduce and engage the public on an initial draft of the Governor`s Healthy Kids Plan, which will expand health care coverage to the 117,000 children in Oregon who currently do not have health insurance.

The figure of 117,000 is a number generated by the Governor's office, many advocates say that number doesn't even begin to account for how many uninsured kids there are in Oregon today.

"My vision for Oregon is that all children have access to health care, including dental and mental health benefits, and that all working families have access to affordable health insurance for their kids," Governor Kulongoski said. "Insuring all children is a critical first step we can take to reduce the total number of uninsured Oregonians, and these forums are important to developing a Healthy Kids Plan that helps us make this vision a reality."

The Governor announced the Healthy Kids Plan in his State of the State Address in February and asked the Medicaid Advisory Committee (MAC) to work with state agencies and community partners to design some of the key elements of the plan.

Over the last two months, the MAC has begun to develop recommendations around the delivery system serving kids in Oregon, enrollment and retention in the Plan, and the benefit options for expanding coverage for children in families with incomes above 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($37,700.00 annually for a family of four), including the appropriate levels of state-subsidy and family cost-sharing.

Participants in the public meetings will meet in small groups to discuss questions, such as: how enrollment can be streamlined to make it easy for kids to enroll and stay enrolled; what is fair and affordable for families at different income levels above 200 percent of the federal poverty level to contribute to the cost of health care for their kids, and how much can those families afford; and what can be done to help small employers who offer dependent coverage today to continue offering that coverage. In addition, participants will be given an "open mike" opportunity as well as comment cards to address issues that they believe were missed.

The MAC will use the input gathered at the meetings to develop final recommendations to the Governor, which will aid the development of his 2007 legislation to enact the Healthy Kids Plan and his 2007-2009 budget.

Medicaid Advisory Committee Hearings

• All meetings are scheduled from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
• Medford - Tuesday, April 18; Jackson Co. Central Library; 205 S. Central Ave.
• Bend - Wednesday, April 19; Bend Community Center; 1036 NE 5th St.
• Newport - Tuesday, April 25; Performing Arts Center; 777 West Olive St.
• Corvallis - Thursday, April 27; New Fire Station #5, 4950 NW Fair Oaks Dr.
• Portland - Tuesday, May 2; Benson High School; 546 NE 12th Ave.
• La Grande - Thursday, May 4; La Grande Middle School Commons; 1108 4th St.

The meetings are open to anyone interested in children`s health-care access, especially families with uninsured children. Childcare will be available and each site will be accessible for people with disabilities. For those who need assistance with transportation to the meetings or translation at the meetings, please contact the Oregon Health Action Campaign at least 24-48 hours in advance of the forum at (800) 789-1599 ext. 13.