Director's Message

January 27, 2006

To: DHS employees

From: Dr. Bruce Goldberg, DHS Director

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?"

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Last Friday, I went from an E-Board discussion about our department to a celebration and commemoration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. It was yet another reminder to me amidst all the discussions of budgets of why we are here and why we do the work that we do.

All of us who work here see firsthand, most of us every day, the consequences of hunger, going without health care, children and seniors who fear for their safety, addiction, infections and illness that could be prevented, and much more.  Helping those most in need is what the department is charged with and why we work here.

By choosing to work here in the Department of Human Services -- helping those most in need -- demonstrates your personal commitment to your neighbors and community. Many of us do this in the face of diminishing resources and expanding workloads. I understand that and will continue to work to improve this situation.

Thank you for your hard work and your contributions.

Helping make sure prescriptions are filled

Yet another example of how department employees have stepped in to help -- going above and beyond normal duty by working nights and weekends -- occurred with implementation of the new Medicare prescription drug plan, kicked off at the beginning of this year.  Hardest hit were those with both Medicare and Medicaid coverage. These "dual eligible" people include many of Oregon's most needy who have few or no resources. 

By our estimate, as many as 10,000 of the 54,000 dual eligible Oregonians have had difficulty accessing medication guaranteed under the new benefit. DHS staff and others have been deluged with calls from those who needed help. Our staff stepped up and staffed phone lines, working extra hours to help people navigate through the new system. Thank you. Your efforts have made a difference in the lives of many Oregonians.

The primary reason citizens are being denied their medication is that many pharmacies are not able to verify that the patient is enrolled in one of the federal Medicare prescription drug plans or that the patient is eligible for low-income subsidy assistance. This led to the Governor enacting an emergency relief plan to provide temporary financial assistance to those dual eligibles having difficulty getting their prescriptions filled under the new program. Under the plan, the state will reimburse pharmacies for a 30-day supply of medication if the pharmacist is not able to bill Medicare or one of the federal benefit plans.

The Governor followed up his decision by calling for a meeting with Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and some of us from DHS. After the meeting, Secretary Leavitt promised to help the state recoup drug costs from insurers. On Wednesday of this week, the federal government announced that states would be fully reimbursed for any costs they incurred in paying claims for prescription drugs that should have been covered by the new program.

This is good news for Oregon. It became apparent very early that the new program was having trouble getting off the ground and that the federal government needed to take some responsibility to help those disadvantaged by computer glitches and other problems. It appears that the message delivered by Oregon and other states wasn't ignored and that we will be reimbursed for the funds spent to help those who needed it most.

Unfortunately, there are still many problems with the new system and many seniors continue to have difficulty. Our staff continue to work to assure that seniors are getting the medicines they need and to advocate for prompt changes in the federal systems and policies that are adversely effecting Medicare beneficiaries.

Helping those who are hungry

This month was the start of the annual State Employees Food Drive. Oregon continues to make strides to reduce hunger. In fact, according to the USDA Household Food Security in the United States, 2004 report, Oregon was the only state to experience a statistically significant drop in food insecurity with hunger. Even with the improvement, more than one in 10 Oregonians experienced difficulty purchasing food due to a lack of resources at some time during the year. One in five Oregonians ate meals from an emergency food box at least once last year -- an average of 194,000 people per month.

Every year, DHS brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the Food Drive; in fact, our own Evonne Alderete is the statewide coordinator. We are consistently one of the agencies whose employees donate the most. All this is consistent with your commitment to our mission and the people and communities we serve that I mentioned at the start of this message. So let me once again say what cannot be said enough, thank you. You are greatly appreciated.

This message is intended for all department employees. Please read it electronically, if possible. Managers and supervisors are asked to share the message each week with employees who do not have email access.

If you have a disability and need this message to be provided to you in another format, please send an email to dhs.forms@state.or.us, or call (503) 947-5107. You can also fax your request to (503) 373-7690, or call (503) 947-5080 for TTY service. If you know of others who need this accommodation, please let them know it is available.