Tag: Oregon

Finicky COVID-19 vaccines raise the stakes of power outages

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.theverge.com/science/2021/2/16/22285394/covid-vaccine-power-outage-freezer?mc_cid=cd30d3af2c&mc_eid=983bcf5922

Excerpt:

Winter storms paralyzing the United States have left millions without power and sent health officials scrambling to protect freezers full of COVID-19 vaccines, which have to be kept at extremely low temperatures or risk going bad.

Rolling blackouts through Texas took out at least one set of freezers full of the Moderna vaccine; 5,000 doses were sent to a university, a jail, and a handful of hospitals before they expired. The Oregon Health Authority is moving vaccines to places with power, although the agency isn’t disclosing which storage sites have their systems down. As part of its storm preparations, Kentucky made sure places holding COVID-19 vaccines had contingency plans.

Author(s): Nicole Wetsman

Publication Date: 16 February 2021

Publication Site: the Verge

States push ahead on private-sector initiatives

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.pionline.com/retirement-plans/states-push-ahead-private-sector-initiatives

Excerpt:

To date, 12 states and Seattle have enacted retirement savings programs for private-sector workers. They include OregonSaves with more than 90,000 funded accounts and $92 million in assets, the Illinois Secure Choice retirement savings program with $52.6 million and 82,852 funded accounts, and the $38 million CalSavers Retirement Savings Program that as of February had enrolled 274,024 participants, with another enrollment phase coming up.

The predominant model is an auto IRA, in which employer participation is required if no plan is already offered. Other options are a voluntary payroll deduction Roth IRA, a multiple employer plan, and a service provider marketplace, or a hybrid.

Author(s): Hazel Bradford

Publication Date: 22 February 2021

Publication Site: Pensions & Investments

Oregon Hospitals Didn’t Have Shortages. So Why Were Disabled People Denied Care?

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.npr.org/2020/12/21/946292119/oregon-hospitals-didnt-have-shortages-so-why-were-disabled-people-denied-care

Excerpt:

The changes in Oregon echoed the evolution of guidelines in other states. State and national disability groups had brought complaints to the Office for Civil Rights at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the agency that enforces anti-discrimination laws in health care.

….

There was one lingering question in all of these cases: Why was care rationed to people with disabilities at a time when Oregon’s hospitals were not overcrowded, when there were no shortages of treatment?

Author: Joseph Shapiro

Publication Date: 21 December 2020

Publication Site: NPR