DeFazio Visits Florence
Congressman Peter DeFazio visited Florence for a town hall yesterday. DeFazio is currently on a tour of cities and towns in his district talking about health care and the changes that the White House is proposing. Changes that he say can be scary if they move forward. The White House is proposing repealing the entire Affordable Care Act which could leave many without any coverage and get rid of care for those with pre-existing conditions. DeFazio spoke with coast Radio news after the town hall.
“Here in my district alone, Southwest Oregon, there is 150000 people on expanded medicaid, some of them are seniors who are lower income, others on lower income, their insurance would be immediately at risk.”
Congrassman DeFazio said it would also effect the younger generation.
“All the young adults between 19 and 26 on their parents policy would lose that coverage.”
DeFazio says he and others in congress are hoping to start a real grassroots movement to push back against the repeal. He says rather than throw it out, he would like to see the ACA fixed. He says it is not a perfect system by any means and changes could be made to improve coverage and lower costs. He says the original ACA had a not for profit segment that would have lowered costs by grouping more people together. Administrative costs according to Peace Harbor’s Jason Hawkins is 30% of the cost of insurance managing the multitude of insurers, which would lower considerably with a more refined system.
Gas Prices Continue Their Rise
Gas prices continue to rise across the state. At the beginning of the year Oregon was in 6th place for the highest prices in the nation, it is currently at 4th place only 10 cents behind Washington State. The average of a price of regular gas in Oregon is $3.31 a gallon. Here in Florence the prices continue to follow the national and state trends. The average price of a gallon of regular gas according to gasbuddy is $3.18 a gallon. Marie Dodds with AAA Oregon says that the triple threat of rising crude prices, lower inventories, and increased demand are the reasons for the continual surge in prices. Dodds says you can expect to see prices continue to climb over the next several weeks and possibly into the summer.
Yard Debris Collection
This weekend the City of Florence is offering their monthly yard debris collection. This Saturday from 9am until 2pm residents can bring their yard materials to the collection center at 27th and Kingwood. Disposal costs are $11 for standard pickup truck load or small utility trailer $16 for a medium utility trailer and $21 for a large utility trailer. Over 20 cubic yards is $21 plus $5 for each additional cubic yard. The city requests that you bring cash for payment. Scotch Broom can currently be accepted through the June collection date but not after.
Free Shred Day
This Saturday is also a free shred day. Oregon Pacific Bank will be holding a paper shredding event in the financial center parking lot on highway 101 from 10 am until 1 pm. If you have important documents that have confidential information you can bring them to the event to be shredded. OPB will also be taking collections for the Florence food Share that day.
