Oregon legislators say they can fill a $65 million deficit in the Oregon Health Plan, the health program for Oregon’s poor residents, this year but that the system needs to be overhauled, perhaps with a universal health coverage plan like the one recently passed in Massachusetts, reports The Oregonian. Providing medical care for the poor “has reached a crossroads between coverage and costs, forcing difficult choices soon,” said the article. Oregon ranks near the bottom of all states in providing coverage to poor children—39% of Oregon beneficiaries are children compared with 46% for the average U.S. medical aid for the poor. The beneficiaries in Oregon’s plan also tend to be sicker than average, increasing the state’s cost per patient by 166% over the past 13 years compared to 112% for the U.S. Legislators blame Oregon employers for failing to provide health coverage for their workers’ children and contributing to the state’s high number of uninsured.
