Low-income residents can get on health care reservation list Monday

By Associated Press Published: Jan 27, 2008 at 7:04 PM PST
nurse with clipboard

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - A 60-line call center will begin taking calls Monday at 7 a.m. from low-income Oregon adults wanting to put their names on a reservation list for possible health care coverage.

Operators will staff the phones 12 hours a day, Monday through Friday, through Feb. 29. Then, a computer will randomly draw names from the reservation list to receive applications for the health plan's Standard benefit plan.

The first 3,000 applications will be mailed in March, with declining numbers mailed in several subsequent months.

Jim Edge, state Medicaid director in Oregon, says by the end of February, they are expecting tens of thousands of Oregonians will have put their names on the reservation list.

Call 1-800-699-9075 or 503-378-2666 (Salem-area callers) or 503-378-7800 (TTY for hearing-impaired callers), and ask to have your name placed on the reservation list.

The call will require 10 to 20 minutes to complete. 

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)