http://www.cffo.org/ en Copyright 2010 2010-02-08T20:33:22+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/oregons_healthy_kids_insurance_program_expands_coverage_to_more_children/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/oregons_healthy_kids_insurance_program_expands_coverage_to_more_children/#When:20:33:22Z By Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian February 05, 2010, 3:00PM Almost all Oregon children can now buy health insurance, as a final phase of the state’s Healthy Kids insurance program started last week. The legislature approved the Healthy Kids plan in 2009, funding it through a 1 percent tax on health insurance premiums. Last fall, the program’s first phases offered free coverage to children from lower-income families. More than 30,000 kids out of an estimated 65,000 eligible Oregonians have enrolled in that coverage. The final piece of the program, Healthy KidsConnect, lets children from other families buy into the plan, which covers all usual check-ups, preventive care and medical care. The insurance also covers prescription medicine, medical equipment and dental, vision and mental health, including addiction services. Only legal Oregon residents under age 19 are eligible. Families making between 200 and 300 percent of the federal poverty level, roughly $44,000 to $66,000 a year for a family of four, pay a sliding fee for insurance through Healthy KidsConnect. Monthly premiums range from $22 to $83 for families in this category, depending on their income and how many children are covered. Families making more than 300 percent of the federal poverty level can buy coverage for the full cost of $214 a month per child. KidsConnect coverage is sponsored by the state but offered by private health insurance plans. State officials say the final phase of coverage could enroll up to 15,000 children. They aim to have 80,000 children covered through the Healthy Kids program by the end of this year. The completion of the KidsConnect program means almost every child in Oregon can get health insurance, and marks “a proud day in Oregon’s history,” Gov. Ted Kulongoski said on Friday. Anyone interested in learning more about the Healthy Kids insurance programs or applying can go online to http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/healthykids or phone (877) 314-5678. 2010-02-08T20:33:22+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/legislative_session_all_oregonians_ask_of_salem_is_an_opportunity/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/legislative_session_all_oregonians_ask_of_salem_is_an_opportunity/#When:21:36:09Z By The Oregonian Editorial Board January 30, 2010, 9:25AM Oregon lawmakers will convene a new session Monday while enjoying a rare sensation in Salem—breathing room. The state budget is balanced, more or less, thanks to the approval of Measures 66 and 67. There’s no crisis, no ax poised over schools or universities or public safety. Oregonians aren’t asking legislators to save the day. They are only asking for a chance to experience, even briefly, the same respite in their lives, the same breathing room, that lawmakers will have when they report to the Capitol on Monday. This monthlong session should be about giving Oregonians an opportunity to get out of crisis mode. Lawmakers should further extend jobless benefits to the persistently unemployed Oregonians who still cannot find work. They should expand employment-related day care payments to workers juggling two or three jobs—often at odd hours—while trying to find safe and affordable care for their kids. They should pass legislation to help small businesses get access to the credit they need to recover and grow. Legislators also must help the many Oregonians who are trying to go to community colleges and universities but facing ever-increasing tuition. The Oregon Student Assistance Commission has more than 30,000 pending applications. There should be no greater priority in Salem than putting more money into Opportunity Grants for these students. Once lawmakers have done what they can for Oregon’s beleaguered families, they should turn to the larger question of how to give the state, its schools and other services more security—breathing room—during economic downturns. 2010-02-02T21:36:09+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/oregon_voters_pass_tax_increasing_measures_by_big_margin/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/oregon_voters_pass_tax_increasing_measures_by_big_margin/#When:19:27:07Z By Harry Esteve, The Oregonian January 26, 2010, 10:17PM Oregon voters bucked decades of anti-tax and anti-Salem sentiment Tuesday, raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to prevent further erosion of public schools and other state services. The tax measures passed easily, with late returns showing a 54 percent to 46 percent ratio. Measure 66 raises taxes on households with taxable income above $250,000, and Measure 67 sets higher minimum taxes on corporations and increases the tax rate on upper-level profits. The results triggered waves of relief from educators and legislative leaders, who were facing an estimated $727 million shortfall in the current two-year budget if the measures failed. “We’re absolutely ecstatic,” said Hanna Vandering, a physical education teacher from Beaverton and vice president of the statewide teachers union. “What Oregonians said today is they believe in public education and vital services.” The double-barreled victory is the first voter-approved statewide income tax increase since the 1930s. Other states, facing similar budget woes, are watching the outcome closely because Oregon, after all, is a state that capped property taxes and locked a surplus tax rebate program into the constitution. The last time voters approved a tax increase was 2002, when they agreed to bump up tobacco taxes to help pay for the Oregon Health Plan. Voters rejected income tax increases twice in recent years. “You’re going to find a lot of people are going to be talking about this,” said Kevin Looper, campaign director for Vote Yes for Oregon, the main support group for the measures. Looper was among more than 300 supporters who packed the Wonder Ballroom in Northeast Portland to watch results. Within 15 minutes of the polls closing, counties around the state released a flood of vote counts and it became clear that both measures had passed. Multnomah County was key to the victory, with voters approving both measures by more than a 2-1 ratio. There was deep support elsewhere around the state, including Washington, Lane and Benton counties and communities on the coast. Even in more conservative areas, support was stronger than expected. 2010-01-27T19:27:07+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/cries_for_help_for_jeanette_maples_got_no_answer/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/cries_for_help_for_jeanette_maples_got_no_answer/#When:18:06:19Z By Susan Goldsmith, The Oregonian January 02, 2010, 5:24PM EUGENE—Many in this community were heartbroken last month when they learned that 15-year-old Jeanette Maples was killed, but few were surprised when authorities charged her mother and stepfather with murder. For three years, people in Jeanette’s life tried to get child welfare authorities involved, to no avail. Her step-grandmother, a concerned parent of a friend and educators all called the state Department of Human Services because she was bruised, constantly hungry and said she had been beaten at home. Though police and prosecutors have released few details about the case, citing an ongoing criminal investigation, Jeanette’s relatives, friends and former teachers say she died a horrific death at her Eugene home after being starved and abused for years. Her mother, Angela McAnulty, 41, and stepfather, Richard McAnulty, 40, have been charged with aggravated murder as a result of “intentional maiming and torture.” Both could face the death penalty if convicted, and both have pleaded not guilty. DHS officials won’t comment, because they’ve convened a critical incident response team review to examine how the agency handled the case. The internal inquiry is expected to wrap up this month. 2010-01-04T18:06:19+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/measures_66_and_67_protect_the_hardest-hit_oregonians/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/measures_66_and_67_protect_the_hardest-hit_oregonians/#When:18:04:46Z By Guest Columnist December 21, 2009, 8:00AM John Mullin It’s official: Oregon now ranks second in the nation for hunger. Food stamp use in our state has skyrocketed 36 percent over the past year. Today, 650,000 Oregonians—one in six—rely on food stamps. Just in the Portland metro area, for example, 231,911 people are currently enrolled in the program because they have nowhere else to turn. The reason behind the rapid rise in hunger is clear: Oregon has been hit hard by the economic crisis, and the effects are rippling through our communities. That’s why we must carefully consider Measures 66 and 67, which are designed to protect Oregonians who have been hardest hit by the recession from being hurt again by drastic cuts to essential services. 2010-01-04T18:04:46+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/state_extends_health_care_to_20000_kids/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/state_extends_health_care_to_20000_kids/#When:19:42:13Z By Bill Graves, The Oregonian December 10, 2009, 6:35PM An additional 20,000 children have health insurance and access to health care under Oregon’s initiative to insure virtually all children, Gov. Ted Kulongoski announced today.  Under a law passed this year by the Legislature, Oregon is using a 1 percent tax on health insurer premiums to expand health care to 80,000 more children under age 18. Once that happens, about 95 percent of Oregon’s children will be insured. That is about as high a percentage as any state has achieved given that some families move or elude social outreach workers, state officials say. The state has extended health insurance to 20,000 children since the governor signed the Healthy Kids Plan into law in August. State leaders hope to provide insurance for another 60,000 children by 2010. “Many parents are struggling in this difficult economy,” Kulongoski said in a prepared statement. “One thing they don’t have to worry about is how to get their children the health care they need.” The state has been enrolling uninsured children in the Oregon Health Plan who come from families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Beginning in January, the state will subsidize on a sliding scale insurance for children from families with incomes up to 300 percent of the poverty level – $66,000 for a family of four. Children whose parents lack employer-sponsored insurance will have access to a new state-sponsored private insurance plan called Healthy KidsConnect. 2009-12-17T19:42:13+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/health_insurance_exchange_for_kids_to_begin/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/health_insurance_exchange_for_kids_to_begin/#When:17:03:17Z Oregon’s program will be the first of its kind in the nation By Tracy Loew • Statesman Journal • December 13, 2009 Oregon is getting ready to roll out the nation’s first health insurance exchange just for children. In January, children in families between 200 percent and 300 percent of the federal poverty level will qualify for state-subsidized health coverage offered by five private insurers. The plan, called Healthy KidsConnect, will serve as many as 35,000 children. A family of four would qualify if its income was between $44,100 and $66,150 per year. They’ll pay either 10 percent or 20 percent of the premium costs, depending on income, said Cathy Kaufmann, manager of the state’s Office of Healthy Kids. Health insurance exchanges are a key part of national health care reforms being considered by Congress. They allow consumers to comparison shop plans with standardized benefits. 2009-12-14T17:03:17+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/domestic_violence_murders_community_and_victims_cry_out_for_solutions/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/domestic_violence_murders_community_and_victims_cry_out_for_solutions/#When:17:00:12Z By Guest Columnist December 12, 2009, 9:13AM By BRUCE GOLDBERG, ROBIN CHRISTIAN and SYBIL HEBB The domestic violence murders staining our region in the past month have been horrific and relentless. In total, 18 people have lost their lives in less than 30 days. Along with seven women, two young children were shot and killed along with their mothers, and an adult son died trying, unsuccessfully, to protect his mother. All eight male perpetrators committed suicide. These tragedies have occurred across Oregon, in both urban and rural communities. One thing is clear: Domestic violence is a public health and safety crisis in our state with far-reaching consequences. Individuals, workplaces, schools and agencies are negatively affected. The toll on victims, children, families and communities cannot be measured. We have a responsibility to our families and our communities to do better. We join together to issue a statewide call to action. In the aftermath of these tragedies, government and justice system officials, policymakers and advocates are asking what could have been done to prevent these deaths. We applaud the fast response of state leaders such as Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who is convening a group of leaders in law enforcement, advocacy and social services to look at how we can do a better job. A statewide critical and thorough review of each case by a multidisciplinary group will assess whether there were missed opportunities to step in, provide safety and avert these heartbreaking deaths. 2009-12-14T17:00:12+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/children_without_health_care/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/children_without_health_care/#When:21:41:02Z By Chris Honore For the Ashland Daily Tidings December 05, 2009 Who can dispute that growing up healthy is essential to a child’s well being? And yet, the rising cost of health insurance, combined with a severe recession and increasing unemployment, often meaning loss of health care, puts the financial stability of families in jeopardy, asking them to make all but impossible choices between food, rent and clothes and health care. Children without health insurance are ten times more likely than insured children to miss out on needed medical care. More and more are showing up in emergency rooms for health care or going without. According to Children First for Oregon, “these children are more likely to suffer from common childhood illnesses that force children to miss school. They are three times more likely to go without needed prescriptions. Children without insurance are eight times more likely to go without preventative and primary medical care.” The report goes on to state that medical debt is a rapidly growing problem in Oregon and across the nation. There are more than 100,000 children in Oregon without healthcare insurance. Of the 45,605 children in Jackson County, 4,606 are uninsured. According to county officials, 51.5 percent of eighth graders have not had a physical exam in the past year; 69.3 percent have tooth decay; 44.2 percent have not seen a dentist in the previous year; there are 3,989 students for every 1.0 FTE school nurse in the county. The preferred ratio is 750 students to every 1.0 FTE nurse. 2009-12-07T21:41:02+00:00 http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/child_abuse_takes_many_different_forms/ http://www.cffo.org/site/blog_entry/child_abuse_takes_many_different_forms/#When:17:55:13Z By Chris Honore For the Ashland Daily Tidings December 04, 2009 What would cause a child to choose the mean streets of a city or a town rather than living at home? And what happens to those children who cannot leave, who are too young to make such a harrowing decision and so must remain, all the while suffering chronic and unremitting abuse? But first, how is child abuse defined? According to the Center for Disease Control there are four categories of child abuse: neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse and psychological abuse. In Jackson County, according to Children First for Oregon, in 2007, 440 children suffered abuse and neglect and 320 children suffered from threat of harm. Of those 760 children, Doug Mares, District 8 manager of the Department of Human Services, reports that 404 were younger than six years of age; 268 were six to 12; and 88 were 13 and older. 2009-12-07T17:55:13+00:00