State Republicans seek to toss out myriad benefits of health reform in Oklahoma, along with dollars, jobs, lives

The yahoo’s in the OK legislature are working furiously to get Oklahoma out of the new health care insurance law through an amendment on this November’s ballot. This is what will be lost if they succeed (which ultimately they won’t, but they will drive citizens to a panic, voters to the polls, and spend a lot of taxpayer money in the futile effort).

Together, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act will ensure that all Oklahomans have access to quality, affordable health insurance. The Congressional Budget Office has determined that these two bills are fully paid for, will bend the health care cost curve, and will reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years with further deficit reduction in the following decade. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act will reduce the cost of health care for the middle class, ensure health security to seniors, and provide tax credits to small businesses and individuals to further reduce the cost of health coverage.

Key Benefits for Oklahoma

• Provide tax credits for up to 45,600 Oklahoma small businesses to help make coverage more affordable. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10]
• Prohibit insurance companies from excluding coverage of pre-existing conditions for the 918,849 children in Oklahoma, starting this year. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10]
• Close the „donut hole‟ and improve other Medicare benefits for 575,000 Oklahoma seniors. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10]
• Reduce Medicare premiums for the 495,000 Oklahoma seniors who are not enrolled in Medicare Advantage and will no longer subsidize these private insurance plans. [Senate Finance Committee]
• Ensure affordable coverage options for 639,000 Oklahomans who are uninsured and 142,000 Oklahomans who purchase health insurance through the individual market. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10]
• Ensure immediate access to affordable insurance options for as many as 86,641 uninsured Oklahomans who have a pre-existing condition. [staff estimate using Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), 4/09 and HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10]
• Provide tax credits for up to 319,000 Oklahomans to help make health insurance more affordable, bringing $5.2 billion in premium and cost-sharing tax credits into Oklahoma during the first five years of the health insurance Exchange. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10; Senate Finance Committee]
• Reduce family health insurance premiums by $1,710 – $2,440 for the same benefits, as compared to what they would be without health reform by 2016. [Senate Finance Committee estimate based on CBO, 11/30/09]
• Provide access to Medicaid for 331,935 newly-eligible Oklahomans, and provide $11.7 billion in federal funding for the cost of their coverage. [Urban Institute, 1/25/10; Senate Finance Committee]
• Create 2,800 – 4,500 jobs by reducing health care costs for employers. [U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 1/20/10]
• Allow 374,412 young adults to stay on their parents‟ insurance plans. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10]
• Provide more federal funding for 45 Community Health Centers in Oklahoma. [National Association of Community Health Centers, 2009]

Affordable Coverage Options for Oklahoma Small Businesses
Small businesses make up 75 percent of all Oklahoma businesses, yet just 36.3 percent of these small businesses are able to offer health insurance to their employees. [AHRQ, accessed 3/20/10; AHRQ, accessed 3/20/10] Starting this year, up to 45,600 Oklahoma small businesses will be eligible for tax credits for a percentage of their contribution to their employees‟ health insurance. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] Small businesses of the size that qualify for these tax credits employ 205,316 Oklahomans. [AHRQ, accessed 3/20/10]

Protecting Children
Recognizing the special vulnerability of children, health reform prohibits insurance companies from excluding coverage of pre-existing conditions for the 918,849 children in Oklahoma. This takes effect six months after enactment and applies to all new plans. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10]

Strengthening Medicare for Oklahoma Seniors
Health reform improves Medicare benefits for the 575,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Oklahoma. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] Each year, 102,000 Oklahoma seniors hit the Medicare Part D „donut hole.‟ [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] Starting this year, seniors who hit this gap in their prescription drug coverage will receive a $250 check, and the „donut hole‟ will be completely closed by 2020. The 575,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Oklahoma will see other improvements to the program, including a free, annual wellness visit and no cost-sharing for prevention services. Finally, by gradually moving to a more fair payment system for private insurance companies who participate in Medicare Advantage, health reform will lower Medicare costs for the 495,000 Oklahoma seniors not enrolled in Medicare Advantage, by as much as $45 in premium costs each year. [Senate Finance Committee]

Affordable Coverage Options for Oklahomans
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act contain several provisions to expand affordable coverage options for millions of Americans. First, health reform will provide immediate access to quality, affordable health insurance for as many as 86,641 uninsured Oklahomans who are unable to obtain health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. [staff estimate using AHRQ, 4/09 and HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] This new $5 billion program will take effect 90 days after enactment of health reform.

Second, health reform will ensure that the 639,000 uninsured Oklahomans and 142,000 Oklahomans who purchase health insurance through the individual market have access to affordable health insurance options through state-based health insurance Exchanges. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] By reforming the insurance market and forcing insurance companies to compete for business through the Exchange, health reform will reduce family health insurance premiums by $1,710 – $2,440 for the same benefits. [Senate Finance Committee estimate based on CBO, 11/30/09] In addition, 319,000 Oklahomans will receive premium tax credits to help make health insurance even more affordable. [HealthReform.gov, accessed 3/20/10] During the first five years that the health insurance Exchange is operational, Oklahomans will receive $5.2 billion in premium and cost-sharing tax credits to further reduce the cost of health insurance. [Senate Finance Committee]

Finally, health reform will open access to Medicaid for 331,935 newly eligible Oklahomans, by expanding eligibility to non-elderly parents, childless adults, children and pregnant women with income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. [Urban Institute, 1/25/10] The federal government will fully fund the cost of covering these newly eligible individuals for three years and will pay 90 percent of these costs after 2020, compared to the current contribution in Oklahoma of 64.4 percent of costs. In total, Oklahoma could receive $11.7 billion in federal funding during just the first five years of this coverage expansion. [Senate Finance Committee]

Affordable Coverage Options for Oklahoma Young Adults
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “Young adults often lose their health insurance if covered under a parent‟s or guardian‟s policy at age 19 or upon graduation from high school or college.” [NCSL, accessed 3/20/10] Starting this year, 374,412 young adults in Oklahoma will be able to remain covered by their parent‟s insurance policy until age 26. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10] In addition, once the health insurance Exchanges are operational in 2014, 595,060 Oklahomans under age 30 will have access to less costly catastrophic-only health insurance plans. [U.S. Census Bureau, 1/7/10] These plans will also be available to others who are exempt from the individual responsibility policy.

Job Creation
A recent analysis found that slowing the growth rate of health care costs will make it more profitable for businesses to expand employment, leading to estimated job gains nationwide of 250,000 – 400,000 per year for the next decade as a result of health reform. [Center for American Progress, 1/10] For Oklahoma, this could mean 2,800 – 4,500 new jobs each year. [U.S. Public Interest Research Group, 1/20/10]

Support for Oklahoma Community Health Centers
Community health centers provide critical health care to Oklahomans, regardless of their ability to pay. Health reform makes an immediate and substantial investment in the 45 federally-funded health centers in Oklahoma. [National Association of Community Health Centers, 2009]

In my own district, OK-3, here’s what the Republicans want to eliminate:

Improve coverage for 399,000 residents with health insurance.

• Give tax credits and other assistance to up to 191,000 families and 15,100 small businesses to help
  them afford coverage.
• Improve Medicare for 115,000 beneficiaries, including closing the donut hole.
• Extend coverage to 78,000 uninsured residents.
• Guarantee that 15,300 residents with pre-existing conditions can obtain coverage.
• Protect 800 families from bankruptcy due to unaffordable health care costs.
• Allow 65,000 young adults to obtain coverage on their parents’ insurance plans.
• Provide millions of dollars in new funding for 8 community health centers.
• Reduce the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals and other health care providers by $117
  million annually.

— more details

Other OK district benefits:
OK-1, OK-2, OK-4, OK-5

Update: Is it possible that those high and mighty state AGs who are suing the federal gov’t over HCR, and GOP members of the Oklahoma legislature, have not read the bill??????

Heavens, what will we tell the children?