Oregon Obamacare Communists Cut Number Of Uninsured By 10% In Two Weeks, Probably With Death Panels

The hippies running the Oregon Health Plan have enrolled 56,000 new people under the state's expansion of Medicaid, even before the state's insurance exchange -- which has been delayed by technical glitches -- is up and running. Is it a much-sought-after Obamacare success story? The low-income program has cut the number of uninsured Oregon residents by 10% in its first two weeks, using a fast-track enrollment system that the state designed, or by murdering them, one or the other, there is simply no way to ever know.

Since late September the Oregon Health Authority sent out notices to 260,000 people already enrolled in the state's food stamps program since late October.

The notices informed them that based on their income reported to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, they are pre-qualified for the Oregon Health Plan in 2014. Most of them are newly eligible thanks to the state's decision to expand the program's income caps under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

To enroll, all they have to do is make a phone call or send a form consenting to be enrolled. So far, 56,000 people have done that, coming on top of more than 600,000 already enrolled.

Governor John Kitzhaber released a statement calling the expanded coverage "tremendous news for the thousands of Oregonians anxious to get access to quality, affordable health care."

The success of the low-income enrollment has been a real feather in Oregon's cap, and partly offsets the big black eye the state has suffered because of the delay of Cover Oregon, the state exchange, which is not yet operational due to technical issues. Cover Oregon officials say they expect to have the exchange up and running in time for people to get insurance well before December 15, the cut-off for policies starting on January 1.

In related news, the Orwellian rainbows and retro-hipsters flying above Portland seem to have done their Goebbelsian part, for Tyranny. Wake up SHEEPLE!

[ Oregonian / Kaiser Health News ]