Oregon To Hold Health Insurance Lottery

One-Of-A-Kind Drawing For Uninsured To Give Winners Low-Cost Heath Care

(AP)  Oregon is conducting a one-of-a-kind lottery, and the prize is health insurance.

The state will start drawing names this week for the chance to enroll in a health care program designed for people not poor enough for Medicaid but too cash-strapped to buy their own insurance.

More than 80,000 people have signed up since registration for the lottery opened in January. Only a few thousand will be chosen for the program.

"It's better than nothing, it's at least a hope," said Shirley Krueger, 61, who signed up the first day.

It's been more than six months since she could afford to take insulin regularly for her diabetes. That puts her at higher risk for a number of complications, such as kidney failure, heart disease and blindness.

Her part-time job leaves her ineligible for her employer's insurance plan and with too little income to buy her own.

"I'm worried about it. I know it's a death sentence," Krueger said.

An estimated 600,000 people in Oregon are uninsured, according to the Oregon Department of Human Services.

Those selected in the lottery will be eligible for a standard benefit program, which was once a heralded highlight of the Oregon Health Plan.

At its peak in 1995, the program covered 132,000 Oregonians. State budget cuts forced the program to close to newcomers by 2004, but it now has several thousand openings.

The program covers their most basic health services, medications and limited dental, hospital and vision services at little or no cost.

The health insurance lottery winners will be chosen in a series of drawings that could take a few months.

"This is such a wonderful opportunity," said Ellen Pinney, director of the Oregon Health Action Campaign. "We've heard absolutely no complaints, just a lot of hope that they are the ones who will be selected."

Advocates for the uninsured say the demand for the program underscores the state's need for health coverage.

"We have pretty much returned as a state, in terms the percentage of uninsured, to where we were in the late '80s when we created (the Oregon Health Plan standard benefit)," said Barney Speight, director of the Oregon Health Fund Board.

The board is supposed to come up with a plan to address health care access and coverage for Oregonians for consideration in the 2009 legislative session.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski considers the Oregon Health Plan a basis to build on, said Anna Richter Taylor, a spokeswoman for his office. The plan has been able to maintain its benefit package for people who are aged, blind, disabled, under 19, pregnant or receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families benefits.

But providing coverage for a larger population is a goal that could take much longer to reach.

"It's a huge challenge for one session - it's probably going to be a sequential process," Richter Taylor said.

[sebastian27-2009]

So a single payer health care system is socialism. Who cares! I am sick of seeing articles in the paper or television saying that so-and-so is having a chili supper, garage sale, bingo game, etc and the profit will go toward the treatment of some child that has to have heart surgery, cancer treatment etc.
When is this country going to wake up and live up to its religious and ethical responsibility to see that healthcare is available to everyone. For those who can afford private health care and are willing to pay for it, wonderful! Not only is it societies responsibility to see that health care is available for everyone, it makes good sense. A healthy person can be a productive person and an asset to society. A sick one is a drag on society.

[lewiston14]

Tom this is a lottery of life and death pure and simple. The winners live the losers die. Maybe they should build a Rome style Collusium so we can go to the games on the weekends and watch. Would be a bigger hit then the NFL and could be played all year. The heart Patient vs. the cancer patient Fight to the death.

[nlm2383]

You two that have left comments so far have obivously never been in this situation. Until you''ve been in the sitation where you have no medical coverage and desperately need it, you have absolutely no right to make any type of negative comments. This is hope for some, and hopefully it turns out for the best for most of these people who are in desperate need of medical coverage.

[horse3farm]

I feel like I''m watching a movie about America in the 25th century. This would be funny if it weren''t so tragic.

[tomanyt]

OK...So 80,000 people have registered, but there are only 10,000 slots. So what happens to the 70,000 who get nothing???? What a complete waste of time.