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This week Cover Oregon and OHA announced that about 170,000 people have signed up for health insurance for January. More than 55,000 people shopped for and purchased a private plan or enrolled in the Oregon Health Plan through Cover Oregon. Of those, about 20,000 people gained private coverage and more than 35,000 joined the Oregon Health Plan. Additionally, more than 114,500 people enrolled directly in the Oregon Health Plan through OHP fast-track enrollment.
We know how much this coverage matters for Oregonians – people like Elizabeth Petrosian. Elizabeth and her husband own a food cart in Southeast Portland. After applying through Cover Oregon, they are enrolled in a private health insurance plan, and their two children are covered through Healthy Kids.
"We qualified for a tax credit to help with our monthly premiums, and without it we could not have afforded coverage," said Petrosian. "That wasn't an option for our family. I have been uninsured before, and I know how risky it is."
Elizabeth and her family are just some of the thousands of people who now have the security provided by health care coverage beginning Jan. 1. While this is very good news, it does mean that across the state, call centers for insurance companies, OHA, and Cover Oregon are getting a lot of activity.
For the new Oregon Health Plan members, we want to assure them that their ID cards are on the way and that their coverage began on January 1. If they have medical needs before they receive their enrollment information, they can still access services without incurring a cost. Here is a website we’ve created with more information if they have not received their card yet: www.ohp.oregon.gov.
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