Published: July 28, 2008 02:17 pm            

House task force studies effect of uninsured

Oklahoma City — Facilitating access to basic, affordable health insurance for Oklahomans who are currently uninsured would go a long way to improving the state’s health, both physically and economically, House task force members were told recently.

Oklahoma consistently ranks in the bottom 10 states in health factors, including prevalence of smoking, number of primary care physicians, preventable hospitalizations, cardiovascular deaths and obesity and diabetes rates.

But, those trends are not irreversible, task force leaders emphasized today.

“I consider affordable health insurance coverage to be perhaps the most important social and economic challenge facing our state, and indeed the nation,” said state Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland.

Holland said she has high hopes for the work the task force will be doing over the summer and fall toward decreasing the number of uninsured Oklahomans.

“The fact of the matter is that if this was a race to the bottom, we would be winning,” said Holland. “Since we are on the bottom, we have no where to go but up, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Thoroughly studying the scope of health insurance coverage is required to prevent more Oklahomans from being priced out of the market, Holland said.

“Every time we add coverage it adds to the cost of health insurance and leads someone to have to drop care,” said Holland. “We have to be cautious when requiring plans to cover additional things in order to not directly lead to more uninsured Oklahomans.”

Nico Gomez, communications director for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, said a pending federal waiver to expand the Insure Oklahoma plan may go a long way to getting more Oklahomans affordable health care.

If approved, the federal waiver would allow the premium assistance program to expand private coverage to children up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level; working adults up to 250 percent of the poverty level; employers with up to 250 employees; and college students up to age 23.

“We plan to continue to push for this waiver to try to make private insurance coverage affordable and accessible for more Oklahomans,” said Gomez.

The bipartisan task force is set to take a comprehensive look at Oklahoma’s health care system and the problems fueling growth in the number of uninsured Oklahomans. The group’s emphasis will be to find common-sense solutions that empower families, not creating a government-run, single-payer system that simply grows bureaucracy.

“It is critical that we find consumer-driven solutions within our health care system, which will give Oklahomans more control over their own health outcomes,” said House Speaker Chris Benge, R-Tulsa.

“Growing government bureaucracy is not the answer, but we must be a part of a solution to find ways to ensure Oklahomans have access to affordable health care options.”

A June survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put Oklahoma last in the nation in number of insured residents aged 65 and under. The report found that nearly one in three Oklahomans under 65 years old are without health insurance.

“It is unacceptable to continue to embrace the status quo and let Oklahoma families go without health insurance,” said Rep. Kris Steele, R-Shawnee and co-chairman of the task force. “The point of this task force is to bring some of the brightest minds in the health care industry together so we can find market-based solutions and work with the public and private sectors to help more Oklahomans buy a basic, affordable health insurance plan.”

Oklahoma’s poor health statistics are integrally tied to the lack of health insurance and preventative and primary care in the state, said Rep. Doug Cox, the only medical doctor serving in the Legislature.

“I see people in the emergency room all the time for minor ailments, but because they don’t have a primary care physician, they have to come to the ER for care,” said Cox, R-Grove. “We must help Oklahomans buy a basic plan to boost preventive care and give them a primary care doctor for routine visits. Our state’s long-term health depends on it.”

The next meeting of the Health Care Reform Task Force will be Tuesday, August 12 at 9 a.m.

        

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