91,000 Oregon residents face an amazing health situation. Take Melvin Tsosies – his cardiac arrest and consequent surgical and medical bills of over $200,000 have led him to seek a unique solution. He’s taking part in a lottery that offers health insurance as a reward.

Mr. Tsosies, a Deschutes County handyman wants to be a winner so that he can afford medical treatment. But everyone can’t win – there is only enough for around 24,000 persons, 17,000 of whom have already been allotted health insurance. Where does that leave the 600,000 Oregonians who don’t have medical cover?

State Medicaid Director Jim Edge is hoping that more funds added by the State will give new life to the programme. Oregon was a path breaker in this area, but now has more and more uninsured. Deschutes County is worse off than others, with 19% of the people being without insurance against the national and state figure of 16%.

It’s hard for people to meet healthcare payments here – Chris Coon, outreach manager for Ochoco Health Systems, says that the need is an urgent one, and that using a lottery to decide who benefits from medical treatment is indicative of the bad situation.

The idea for this lottery came from state officials and groups who believe that every little bit helps. Part of Medicaid, Oregon’s Health Plan, the lottery is meant to help some of those who can’t afford care, don’t have insurance and don’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. This programme used to assist 100,000 – reductions in funds in 2004 have brought that number down to 17,000.

New hope comes in the form of plans for a special state board to focus on ways to offer comprehensive health care in Oregon, despite financial and political hurdles that stand in the way.

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