The problem, I suspect, is identity and permanent address. I haven't followed health insurance problems in Oregon, but the requirement for a check also is a requirement for a permanent address and enough economic stability to establish a checking account.

Even post office boxes require rent.

However, in the absence of anything better, a cash-only payment station could be set up in every post office in Oregon, with forms to act as a state records/applicant receipts, to be enclosed with the cash in preaddressed envelopes which will be provided with the forms. Going to the post office gets the applicant next to the stamps, and to a clerk who will sell one stamp and even afix it and take the letter.

Not all post offices in Oregon may be amenable to this arrangement. There's also the problem of petty theft: If someone knows that envelopes that look like X are likely to have untraceable cash in them, and he or she has opportunity, will he or she begin to take envelopes that look like X in order to steal the money? And in that case, of what value is the receipt to the applicant? Can the applicant merely fill out a form, ditch the state copy, never send the money, and claim coverage on the authority of the receipt alone?

The next question is, will Oregon want to pay for forms, envelopes, furniture, and personnel to run a cash program? Or is it just less expensive to let 40,000 people go without health care for 6 months at a shot?

Regards--
Mary Anne