Oregon State Program Helps Pay for Health Insurance for Low Income Residents

Over 600,000 Oregonians are without any type of health insurance. For the uninsured a serious injury or illness can have catastrophic financial consequences. Several studies have estimated that over fifty percent of all personal bankruptcies are due to medical reasons. The state of Oregon is working to reduce the number of uninsured citizens by paying up to 95 percent of health insurance cost for individuals and families.

Established by the legislature in 1997 and initially funded by tobacco taxes, the Family Health Insurance Assistance Program now helps approximately 18000 low income people pay for health insurance.

Income eligibility is based on 185 percent of the federal poverty line. For an individual to qualify for assistance their income cannot exceed $1511 a month. A family of four would qualify with an income of $3084 or less a month.

FHIAP categorizes clients into two groups for funding purposes: Individual- those without access to health insurance at work and Group - those whose employers do provide health insurance but the employee cannot afford the premiums.

To be eligible for a FHIAP subsidy, applicants must have been without insurance for six months, be a U.S. citizen living in Oregon, having savings and investments of less than $10,000 and not be eligible for or receiving Medicare. When determining savings and investments FHIAP does not count IRA's, vehicles or owner occupied homes. Exceptions to the six-month rule are made when the applicant is leaving the Oregon Health Plan or has been on their employer's insurance plan for less than 90 days.