The Legislature has approved an additional $19 million in general funding for the Oregon Health Authority and another $64 million from the general fund to the Department of Human Services, as the latter agency struggles to contain program costs for people with disabilities.
The money for the Health Authority, by contrast, largely reflects new support for rural healthcare that became available because of increased revenue. Rural hospitals will get $10 million to modernize, and $2 million will restore a loan repayment program for healthcare professionals willing to serve the Oregon Health Plan.
“They’re both in relatively good shape,” Sen. Richard Devlin, D-Tualatin, told The Lund Report last month. “OHA can largely rebalance internally. … In DHS, we are worried about growth in the K waiver.”
The state budget was set last July, but this year’s session allows the Legislature to take a second look at the budget midstream, and “rebalance” as appropriate.
The Department of Environmental Quality got an additional $100,000 to fight algae blooms and $2.5 million to expand the Oregon Air Toxics Program to focus immediately on the presence of cadmium, chromium and arsenic in Portland air. “We approved resources so the Department of Environmental Quality can continue to address health concerns related to air toxics,” Gov. Kate Brown said in her end-session press release.
A National Forest Service study of tree moss in Portland accidentally discovered high levels of the heavy metals on the inner east side of Portland, catching DEQ unaware. The director of that agency, Dick Pederson, resigned Tuesday, citing personal health concerns.
The Aging & People with Disabilities Division of DHS will get $34 million and the Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Division will get $33 million to absorb rising demands for these services, which came as a result of the state’s decision to realign with federal requirements for home and community-based care, which gave the state more federal money, but set more liberal parameters for services through the K waiver.
“We opened up this K waiver; it was mismanaged by the agency,” Sen. Alan Bates, D-Ashland, said in his usual frank remarks regarding the community-based care reforms at the Department of Human Services. “They’ve worried about pushback from stakeholders.”
Besides the increased costs stemming from the K waiver, the budget increases include $14 million so the state can comply with the U.S. Department of Labor ruling that requires home care workers to be paid overtime for any hours worked beyond 40 hours a week.
The continued spike in costs will be offset by $37 million in savings from the Self-Sufficiency Division. TANF -- a cash assistance program for single parents with children -- saw its rolls fall by 12 percent, while Food Stamps fell by 5 percent.
But the DHS budget will still have a $35 million hole on its projected commitments, which the Legislature deferred filling till a later date.
Devlin said the Legislature’s emergency board will retain a rather large reserve fund -- $40 million -- to fill that hole as it comes up in the next year. That money can also be used for cost overruns at the Oregon State Hospital, which has seen an exponential rise in the number of people temporarily committed to determine if they are fit for trial for misdemeanor crimes. The state may be forced to open empty wings of mental hospitals in Junction City or Salem.
The Oregon State Hospital did get an additional $2.7 million to finish its new electronic records system, Avatar.
The Public Health Division received $4 million for youth marijuana prevention efforts, paid for with taxes for legal recreational marijuana for adults 21 and above.
At DHS, in addition to the increased spending, the Legislature approved another bill issuing general obligation bonds that include $7.6 million to help the agency tap into the ONE Eligibility System, which the Oregon Health Authority has brought online for income-based Medicaid determination.
DHS spokesman Gene Evans said the new bond money will allow DHS to use the same system for food stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Employment-Related Day Care, as well as Medicaid eligibility based on age or disability.
The Committee on Ways & Means turned down a $17 million spending request from the Oregon Health Authority that would have allowed it to keep its old enrollment system operating offline, particularly as the state continues its fight with software contractor Oracle.
