On the Oregon Health Plan? Who to ask about a free air conditioner in Oregon

This story has been updated to reflect the correct phone number for PacificSource.

Oregonians receiving healthcare through Medicaid and Medicare may be wondering how they can get a free unit to cope with high summer temperatures.

The Oregon Health Authority has purchased 3,000 portable air conditioners and has received and shipped 1,000 of them through a new program meant to prevent heat illness for people on public health plans. OHA has reached out to some patients directly and has coordinated the distribution of some units through local nonprofit organizations.

Separately, the state's "coordinated care organizations," such as PacificSource Health Plans, also have money to buy air conditioners for Oregon Health Plan patients who qualify.

Coordinated care organizations provide health care for people who are on the Oregon Health Plan, so if you are on OHP, you may be able to get a unit, depending on your health situation.

If you are a member of OHP through Trillium Community Health Plan, you can call their customer service number at 541-485-2155, or 877-600-5472, or TTY 711 and make the request.

Many people in Lane and other counties who are on the Oregon Health Plan get healthcare through PacificSource.

If you're a member, you can call PacificSource's Medicaid customer service line at 800-461-4135. PacificSource will ask you about your living situation, any health diagnoses and other questions to screen you to see whether you qualify for an AC unit, said Erin Fair Taylor, vice president of Medicaid Programs for PacificSource.

"Unfortunately, we can't buy every member an air conditioner, but what we can do is for individuals who have particular heat-affected conditions, they qualify to receive an air conditioning unit," Fair Taylor said. "So what we're really trying to do is to make sure that the people who are most vulnerable to heat events can support their health needs. And so one way to do that is through air conditioners."

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People with some health conditions can be more susceptible to heat illness. Heat can be especially dangerous for young kids and older adults.

If you go through this process and qualify, it can be done over the phone without a doctor's appointment, order or note, Fair Taylor said.

PacificSource also will work with you on the best way to get the unit delivered to your home.

"In most cases, we have been able to get delivery of a unit either same day or next day," Fair Taylor said. "Not all. Sometimes, depending on where people live, it may take a couple of days, but we try to get it there as quickly as we can."

Demand for air conditioners has gone up in the past year, Fair Taylor said.

"Starting, really, with last year and the extreme heat event that we experienced in 2021, awareness about how important having the ability to cool off has been raised," Fair Taylor said. "And so we've had an increase in requests for air conditioning units since last year and have purchased many more air conditioning units in the last 12 months or so than we had in prior years."

She said PacificSource has enough money to buy units and increased its funding to meet the increased demand for ACs. They haven't run into supply chain issues yet, even though the provider buys the units on an ad hoc basis through retailers as an individual customer would.

Fair Taylor said PacificSource has reached out to 790 members who are at the highest risk of heat-related conditions —like if they have congestive heart failure or were hospitalized recently — to ask if they wanted an AC unit.

PacificSource has nearly 328,000 members in Marion, Polk, Lane, Hood River, Wasco, Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties and in the Portland metro area.

Claire Withycombe is a state government reporter at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at 503-910-3821 or cwithycombe@statesmanjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon Health Plan has free air conditioners for some patients