Keeping Members Safe During Climate Events
Starting March 1, 2024, OHP members may qualify for climate supports. Climate support is a health-related social needs (HRSN) service. Oregon’s 1115 Medicaid waiver allows OHP to cover HRSN services. HRSN services are for OHP members facing certain life transitions.
What Are HRSN Climate Supports?
They are devices to help keep people safe during climate events. These include:
- Air conditioners, heaters, and air filters to provide clean air and healthy temperatures
- Mini fridges to keep medication cold during a power outage
- Portable power supplies to operate medical devices like ventilators during a power outage
Read the
climate support benefit overview:
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Who Qualifies for HRSN Climate Supports?
OHP covers devices for members who:
- Have a living situation that qualifies them for HRSN services,
- Have a health condition that makes climate events challenging or dangerous,
- Live in a place with electricity, and
- Can use the device safely.
Covered devices are only for use in the member's home or primary residence.
- Release from incarceration in the past 12 months
- Discharge from Institutions for Mental Disease (IMDs) in the past 12 months. IMDs are residential mental health facilities with 16 or more beds.
- Current or past involvement in the Oregon child welfare system
- Changing from Medicaid-only to dual (Medicaid and Medicare) coverage. This change can be within the next three months or past nine months
- Being homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless
Examples include:
- For air conditioners, a health condition that gets worse during hot weather
- For heaters, a health condition that gets worse when the member gets very cold
- For air filtration devices, a health condition that gets worse when air quality is poor
- For mini fridges, a health condition that requires temperature-controlled medication
- For portable power supply, a health condition that requires a powered medical device
How to Ask for HRSN Climate Supports
Coordinated care organization (CCO) members can ask their CCO.
Open card members can call 1-888-834-4304 or email
ORHRSN@kepro.com.
Or, send a completed
HRSN Request Form. Completing this form does not guarantee eligibility for or delivery of the device. Download the form in your language:
English
Español / Spanish
Русский / Russian
Tiếng Việt / Vietnamese
اللغة العربية / Arabic
简体中文 / Simplified Chinese
繁體中文 / Traditional Chinese
한국어 / Korean
Af Soomaali / Somali
Lus Hmoob / Hmong
Português / Portuguese
Other Ways to Get Climate Supports
If you do not qualify for a climate device through OHP:
- CCO members can ask their CCO about flexible services (also called health related services). These are services that OHP does not cover. But CCOs may choose to cover them if they will improve the member's health. Your provider usually needs to ask the CCO for approval.
- Some cities and
counties have programs with limited supply. Ask your city or county if they have such a program.
- OHP and Medicare members may qualify for an air cooling or air filter device through the Air Conditioner and Air Filter Deployment Program. Oregon Health Authority, Oregon Department of Human Services and local community-based organizations refer members for this program.