Gov. Mary Fallin: She says that if a special session is called, it needs to be brief so as to keep costs to taxpayers low.
Gov. Mary Fallin will not include the fate of Insure Oklahoma as a topic for a special legislative session if she decides to call one, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the state has submitted to federal officials its plan to shutter the Insure Oklahoma program and is awaiting approval of the plan.
Alex Weintz, a spokesman for Fallin, said via email Tuesday that Insure Oklahoma wouldn't be considered as a topic for any special session Fallin may call.
Coverage under the popular state health insurance program will end Dec. 31. That would leave thousands of low-income Oklahomans without insurance under the new federal health-care law unless state leaders come up with an acceptable alternative.
"The governor is considering calling a special session and is in talks with legislative leaders about that possibility. The timing of the special session is still in question, but the topic would be lawsuit reform. She is not planning to consider any other issue," Weintz said.
In two recent decisions, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that lawsuit reform measures passed in 2009 and 2011 were unconstitutional. The 2009 law contained more than one subject, known as log rolling, while the 2011 law created a financial barrier to the court system, the rulings found.
Weintz said Fallin believes any special session should be "brief, as they do incur a cost to taxpayers."
"Pursuing a lawsuit reform fix would involve passing previously negotiated and vetted language, which can be done relatively quickly," Weintz's statement said. "The same cannot be said for more complex and controversial issues, like health insurance policy, which are better left to the normal legislative calendar."
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told state officials that Insure Oklahoma did not comply with standards under the federal Affordable Care Act. The insurance program uses federal Medicaid money, state tobacco tax revenue and employer contributions to subsidize the cost of private insurance for Oklahomans earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
As of June, there were 29,860 Oklahomans receiving health-care coverage under Insure Oklahoma, just over half through employer-sponsored plans and the remainder in individual plans, records show. Of those, about 8,000 are at poverty levels too low to qualify for coverage under the Affordable Care Act because Fallin has rejected an expansion of Medicaid available under the program.
Fallin said earlier this month that the state is working on a plan to extend the program. Consultants paid by the state to study options in dealing with the federal law have recommended that the state seek such an extension.
The agency that would likely implement such an extension says it is still waiting for direction from state officials.
Sasha Bradley, public information officer for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, said Tuesday the authority is not currently working on a plan to replace Insure Oklahoma.
"We are just waiting on our state leadership to make a decision," Bradley said.
The authority has submitted an "expiration plan" to federal officials to end the program, which the authority administers, she said. It's possible that some people who don't qualify for insurance under the Affordable Care Act can qualify for other programs, Bradley said.
"We will cover everyone to the 31st of December," Bradley said. "We are trying to put together a plan that eases them to the best plan so they don't just get dropped."
While there are numerous legal challenges to the federal health-care law, including a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, key dates remain in place for the law's implementation.
Enrollment through a federal insurance exchange for the state is set to begin Oct. 1 through the law and coverage is supposed to begin Jan. 1, 2014. Open enrollment closes March 31, 2014.
People already in employer-sponsored health insurance plans should not be affected by the new law, federal officials have said.
Ziva Branstetter 918-581-8306
ziva.branstetter@tulsaworld.com
