First Choice News Release July 14, 2009

"FHIAP Has New Budget, Releases Applications

July 1, 2009

With the approval of the 2009-11 Office of Private Health Partnerships budget, the Family Health Insurance Assistance Program (FHIAP) will be able to send out a limited number of applications for premium assistance to purchase private health insurance. Applications will start going out to those on our reservation (waiting) list this month, and continue going out until we reach budgetary capacity.

We cannot predict how long applications will continue to go out, or the exact number of people that will be able to enroll into our program, because of the variables that impact the budget (i.e.— number of responses we receive, how much the insurance costs, number of people disenrolling from FHIAP, etc.) FHIAP will target those that have been on the waiting list the longest, and will focus on those with group coverage.

FHIAP will first mail applications to those that previously had to move to the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) because of lack of funds in FHIAP during the 2007-09 biennium. We will be checking with these members to see if they would like to transition back to FHIAP.

Next, FHIAP will target those that have health insurance available at work. By utilizing employer contributions, we are able get more people into FHIAP, and thereby lower the number of uninsured faster.

As funds are available, FHIAP will send to those that do not have insurance available at work (who need individual insurance). Unfortunately, because funds are limited, it is unlikely that we will be able to get to all of those on the waiting list; this includes those that do not have insurance available at work.

Even though the reservation list wait may be long, it is first come, first served, so it’s still important to have uninsured Oregonians sign up on the reservation list."

Call First Choice Health Insurance at 1-888-957-5001 for help in getting on the waiting list.

FHIAP Website      How Do I Determine My Subsidy Level?