ObamaCare in Oregon?

Need Help Figuring Out New Oregon Health Care Costs?
With ObamaCare's mandates looming you might want to know what Oregon is doing to help. Well, here it comes; Cover Oregon is a new (federally funded) online marketplace where Oregonians can find and purchase health insurance. If you’re uninsured, you can shop for insurance on your own or if you own a small business with 50 or fewer full-time employees, you’ll be able to find health insurance through Cover Oregon. Cover Oregon will let you search for and compare health insurance plans and will offer help – online, in-person, or over the phone.Oregon has 12 insurance carriers signed up to sell in the individual market and eight in the small employer market.  A lucky few will also get help paying for their plan; for example, an individual earning up to $45,900 a year or a family of four earning up to $94,200 a year can get a tax credit to help cover the cost of their premiums. People will be able to begin shopping on Cover Oregon in October 2013, and coverage for plans purchased through Cover Oregon will be effective Jan. 1, 2014.

A recent study by Families USA calculates that 400,980 Oregonians will be able to receive help paying for a portion of their coverage. Of these 400,000+ Oregonians 354, 090 are currently employed.  Families USA also calculates that an additional 800,000 Oregonians "might" be eligible for no-cost coverage through Medicaid or Healthy Kids coverage. Starting in January 2014, the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) will be available to more low-income adults. Many of these adults are uninsured, work part-time, or in low-wage jobs without access to health insurance. Currently the income limit to qualify for the Oregon Health Plan is very low. A person’s income must be at or below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) to qualify. Starting in January, coverage will be available to people who earn up to 138% of FPL. That’s about $15,800 a year for a single person or $32,500 a year for a family of four.

Then again if you are healthy and rarely get sick, or are against health care you can always skirt the mandate and pay the tax penalty. In 2014 it should run around $100. Congressional Budget Office estimates that about six million people of various ages will pay the tax penalty for not having insurance in 2014.

 {Notes: Cover Oregon's startup funding comes from about $300 million in federal grants, and later will receive funding from an insurance tax. Cover Oregon's new campaign uses hip music videos and cost $3.2 million in federal funds to sell Obamacare to Oregonians.Cover Oregon, the state agency set up in Oregon to implement Obamacare, has awarded a $9.9 million contract to North, Inc., a Portland advertising agency for more ads; so watch your facebook wall.}
CoverOregon Calculator 
Medicare/Medicaid expansion Oregon Impact