Kulongoski plan would insure all kids.Byline: David Steves The Register-Guard PORTLAND - Gov. Ted Kulongoski Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski (born November 5 1940, in rural Missouri[1]) is an American Democratic politician. Since 2003, he has served as the Governor of Oregon. He was re-elected in 2006. announced a set of incremental Additional or increased growth, bulk, quantity, number, or value; enlarged. Incremental cost is additional or increased cost of an item or service apart from its actual cost. proposals Tuesday night meant to expand health care for children, make drugs more affordable to poor people and return more people to the Oregon Health Plan The Oregon Health Plan is the Oregon state healthcare program for low income residents of Oregon. Eligibility Basic eligibility requires that the applicant be a resident of Oregon, as a citizen or otherwise. . The proposals struck a sharp contrast to the more sweeping - some have said radical - ideas that his predecessor, former Gov. John Kitzhaber John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5 1947 in Colfax, Washington) is a physician, member of the Democratic Party and former two term Governor of Oregon. He graduated from South Eugene High School in 1965, Dartmouth College in 1969, and then Oregon Health & Science University with a , trumpeted Friday while announcing he would forgo a bid for the governorship in order to push his plan for universal health coverage. After his speech to the Oregon Health Forum awards dinner, Kulongoski said both approaches were valid, saying his was meant to deliver tangible improvements within the next two years, while Kitzhaber's vision would take much longer, if it were to happen at all. "I'm trying to address issues immediately," he told reporters, later adding that he thinks Kitzhaber's approach also is on target. "We need a universal health care plan," Kulongoski said. "Whether you can do it all in the way he suggested, I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. ." Among the proposals Kulongoski cited were vows to: Kick off a new "Healthy Kids Plan," which he said would "ensure all basic medical care for all children in Oregon, up to the age of 19," regardless of income levels. Current state-subsidized coverage is available to children whose families' income is as much as 185 percent of the federal poverty level - $35,798 for a family of four. Kulongoski declined to say how much the program would cost or to identify how he would pay for it, saying he would address such questions when he formally unveils the proposal at his February State of the State address The State of the State Address (alternatively Condition of the State Address) is a speech customarily given once each year by the governors of most states of the United States. . Expand bulk purchasing Bulk Purchasing is when products are bought in large quantities. This often results in a lower price per item, or Unit price. Wholesale is selling or related to selling goods in large quantities for resale to the consumer. for prescription drugs to include all low-income people and private businesses, which would benefit from the discounted prices. He supported such a proposal in the past session, but it failed to win legislative approval. Under the current version of the program, which is open only to those 55 or older, the state contracts to buy medicines in bulk and offers incentives for people to choose the most effective, most affordable medicines. Wring wring v. wrung , wring·ing, wrings v.tr. 1. To twist, squeeze, or compress, especially so as to extract liquid. Often used with out. 2. more savings out of the Oregon Health Plan through a concept known as "chronic disease management." The approach, if successful, would allow more people to be added to the Oregon Health Plan "standard" version for poor adults who don't fit into Medicaid-eligible categories - they're not aged, blind, pregnant or disabled, for instance - to be entitled to coverage. The Oregon Health Plan Standard enrollment numbers have plunged by 84,000 since 2002. Chronic disease management replaces the traditional health care approach - patients go to the doctor or emergency room when their condition worsens - with one that emphasizes managing the condition more intensively. It's an approach that's been used in recent years by commercial health insurers and hospitals to care for patients with diseases such as diabetes, asthma and congestive heart failure congestive heart failure, inability of the heart to expel sufficient blood to keep pace with the metabolic demands of the body. In the healthy individual the heart can tolerate large increases of workload for a considerable length of time. . Erinn Kelley-Siel, Kulongoski's health policy adviser, said the proposal would require federal authorization for reworking the prioritized list of covered health treatments to reflect this chronic disease management approach. |
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