Craig W. is a client of the Premium Assistance program. He lives in Tigard. * When I lost my job last year I lost my health insurance with it. I tried to pay for COBRA but it was way too expensive. I finally started working again a few months later, in a menial job, but I made $17 per month…
Rebecca RaabMarch 25, 2019
Jamie N. is a client of the Outreach, Enrollment, and Access and Premium Assistance programs. She lives in Portland. * Four years ago I had to go to the emergency room. I didn’t have any health insurance. I wait tables for a living so I couldn’t afford the bill. But staff at the finance department were very helpful: they helped…
Rebecca RaabMarch 19, 2019
Michael Bachar is a client of the Outreach, Enrollment, and Access and Premium Assistance programs. He lives in Portland. * I’ve lived in Portland for 11 years and work for a small real estate maintenance business. About eight years ago I needed medication for an acute lung condition but I had no health insurance. I ended up going to a community…
Rebecca RaabFebruary 11, 2019
Ann S. was a client of the Premium Assistance program. * Ten years ago Ann S. had an unusual, high-risk cancer. Ann said she approached the experience like an everyday occurrence. She kept the family routines and obligations and did her best to have her life continue as before. Her main concern was that her three young daughters would stay…
Rebecca RaabDecember 10, 2018
Rick is a client of our Premium Assistance program. * When I retired from full-time work six years ago, I lost health insurance through my employer. I started a small business and asked my insurance broker what my options were during the transition. He helped me navigate all the available insurance plans. When he calculated my premium for my wife…
Rebecca RaabDecember 6, 2018
Nora with her cousin at our Gala 2018 La La Land fundraising event where she was the featured client speaker. Nora has lived in Oregon for fifteen years and is the full-time care provider to her two children: Fatima, 4, and Jimena, 11. "And they are the world to me," she says, grinning. "They are my first thought when I…
Rebecca RaabJuly 10, 2018
"I remember feeling the room turn sideways when he told me," says Nancy as she recalls being informed of her breast cancer diagnosis last September at Providence's Southern Oregon Cancer Center. "We're sitting there talking about chemo treatment schedules for the winter, but I'm just in a state of shock... and it hasn't even occurred to me yet that I have…
Rebecca RaabMarch 1, 2018
Before the Affordable Care Act, Susan had never really had health insurance. In fact, she says she'd never really had much preventative care at all. "Growing up and then later on as well, we just weren't real big on western medicine. Going to the doctor was for broken bones. Everything else, you get sick: try adjusting your diet, take these…
Rebecca RaabJanuary 30, 2018
When doctors at OHSU's Casey Eye Institute removed the pads from Ramon's eyes following his glaucoma treatment, the first thing he saw was his adult son who had driven him to the visit. It was the first time Ramon had seen his son's face clearly in several years. "I felt very emotional," Ramon says, "and to be honest, I cried."…
Rebecca RaabNovember 14, 2017