Lawmaker pushes Fallin to refuse to implement health-care law
BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
7/04/12 at 4:17 AM
Read the Tulsa World continuing coverage of the health care law.
OKLAHOMA CITY - State Sen. Patrick Anderson urged Gov. Mary Fallin to refuse to implement the Affordable Care Act in Oklahoma.
"We have had enough time to consider last Thursday's (Supreme Court) ruling, and we know that the end result will be larger deficits, greater costs to working Oklahomans, and punitive regulations that will cripple many businesses," said Anderson, R-Enid.
"Gov. Fallin needs to make Oklahoma's position clear and tell President Obama that she will not choose to implement this new tax on the taxpayers of Oklahoma."
Fallin has called for the law's repeal but hasn't decided whether the state should accept federal funding to expand Medicaid eligibility through the law.
After initially accepting $54 million to establish a health insurance exchange to comply with the law, Fallin later rejected the funding. She has backed a market-based exchange for the state, though that model would not comply with the law's mandates.
Fallin has said her top priority in addressing the law is making sure that Mitt Romney wins November's presidential election.
Anderson said Fallin needs to be on the front line with Republican governors taking a more strident opposition to the law.
"Bobby Jindal in Louisiana, Chris Christie in New Jersey, Rick Perry in Texas, Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Rick Scott in Florida and Nikki Haley in South Carolina have officially stated they will not implement Obamacare in their states in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last Thursday," Anderson said.
"Oklahoma needs to join these other states and be a leader, not a follower, in the opposition to this law and the substantial burden that it will place on taxpayers."
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, called on the state to nullify the law's individual mandate.
"I disagree with the Supreme Court's ruling and believe that state governments were intended to serve as a check on the federal government," Ritze said.
Ritze said his legislation would authorize the Oklahoma attorney general to defend citizens who fail to purchase health insurance against the federal government and criminalizes the enforcement of the individual mandate.
"My hope is that Obamacare will be repealed, but I do not think that means we have to wait for the repeal to happen," Ritze said.
"Oklahoma lawmakers should do what they can to support our choice to make our own health-care decisions."
Original Print Headline: Lawmaker wants state to reject health-care law
Wayne Greene 918-581-8308
wayne.greene@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Sen. Patrick Anderson: "Oklahoma needs to join ... in opposition to this law."
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