The Health Care Debate

The Health Care Debate

Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee and House Speaker Chris Benge, joined by dozens of lawmakers, have urged Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson to file a lawsuit against the federal government, challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care legislation. The federal bill will impose half a trillion dollars in new taxes on American families. It will cost Oklahoma one billion dollars over the next 10 years in new unfunded mandates. In their letter to Attorney General Drew Edmondson, Coffee and Benge wrote, "if the measure becomes law, it will wreck Oklahoma’s already fragile state budget and place undue economic hardships on the people, especially our seniors, and businesses of our great state," the letter states.” President Obama’s health care reform will raid 52 billion dollars from Social Security; cut nearly 500 billion dollars from Medicare (not counting the hundreds of billions needed to compensate doctors who treat elderly patients); takeover the student loan industry, using the profits to pay for the bill; and add millions of people to Medicaid, a failing program in which many doctors and pharmacists refuse to participate. 38 states have rallied together in resistance to this bill, by filing or announcing legislation that protects their states from “Obama Care”. Federal health care legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama places an enormous unfunded mandate on Oklahoma, the chairman of the House Human Services Committee said this week.

Even before the national recession, states, including Oklahoma, were having a difficult time keeping up with the Federal demand for matching funds related to Medicaid. Since the recession, with tax revenues down, funding Medicaid—even before the expansion called for in this new health legislation—was going to be difficult. This task will become exponentially harder in December of 2012 when the federal stimulus funds that have been used to help states weather the recession are no longer available. In Oklahoma, the health care stimulus dollars will have to be replaced beginning in FY12 or risk having a substantially smaller program that either serves fewer persons or rations coverage. If the state replaces the entire federal stimulus funds used related to health and human services, this would total over a billion dollars and this is before the expansion of coverage mandated in the new federal health care legislation. As a result, State Representative Ron Peters said that paying for the unfunded Medicaid mandate may not be possible without either cutting services or raising taxes.

Under the federal health bill, Oklahoma will be required to provide Medicaid coverage to a much larger group of persons than now beginning in 2014, though this will initially be paid using federal funds. This will change in 2016 when the state will have come up with the state match of 10 percent on these new federal Medicaid funds and any more federal funds that the new requirement obligates the states to match as more persons become eligible for coverage in the future.

Recent occurrences point out the problem with such a policy. First, the state in FY-10 had to consider reducing doctor and provider reimbursement rates because of the state budget shortfall. This possibility still exists as lawmakers put together the FY-11 budget. Second, as the state grapples with the financial problems of the recession and begins to struggle with filling the current federal Medicaid stimulus funds hole, the likely targets for replacing such funds will have to be areas with significant funding like education, roads, and corrections.

A bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers voted overwhelmingly this week to allow Oklahoma voters the chance to opt-out of the new federal health care system. Senate Joint Resolution 59 would allow citizens to vote to amend the Oklahoma Constitution to “preserve the freedom of Oklahomans to provide for their health care.” Under the proposed constitutional amendment, no law or rule could force any citizen, employer or health care provider to participate in any federal health care system.. In addition, the amendment would prevent Oklahomans from being financially penalized if they choose not to purchase insurance mandated by the federal health care plan and doctors would still be allowed to accept direct payment for services without fear of financial penalty.
Senate Joint Resolution 59 passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives on a bipartisan 82-18 vote. It is expected to go to a conference committee where the final details will be hammered out.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the Capitol, please do not hesitate to call
1-800-522-8502 or send an e-mail to donarmes@okhouse.gov.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:

“It’s every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.” –Albert Einstein