Shar McLaughlin, owner of Irish Green Lawn Care, has seven employees. She offers coverage to five full-time workers and is eager to see how these options compare with those available via the federally run health insurance marketplace, which opened for enrollment this month. “I will be reading everything I can get my hands on, but […]
healthcare
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Politicians say the darndest things
Did you know, for instance, that the British pull their own teeth? “The British think they have dental care but they can’t see a dentist,” the Tulsa World quoted him as saying at a recent Tulsa County Republican Men’s Club. “They just go to the hardware store and get a pair of pliers and pull […]
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Just how sacred is it?
Oklahoma Baptist University, Mid-America Christian University, Southern Nazarene University and Oklahoma Wesleyan University are suing the federal government. The argument is, of course, that the legislation forces these universities to shirk a belief — claimed to be biblical — that a human life begins at conception and is, therefore, immoral. The problem is, some biblical […]
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Stuck in the middle
Shawn Spears and her son. Photo by Mark Hancock Between the Oklahoma County Election Board and Oklahoma Health Care Authority buildings, Shawn Spears, 24, works as a clerk at Langston University. She also studies psychology full time at Rose State College and plans to finish her bachelor’s at Langston. The student has a 5-year-old son […]
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The problem is cost, not coverage
According to Obamacare, the federal government would cover 90 percent of the cost of such an expansion long-term. States would be required to pay the difference. When passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, the Obamacare Medicaid expansion was mandatory, but in a 7-2 decision, the United States Supreme Court made the Medicaid […]
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Still fighting
David Green The crafts retailer has until Oct. 21 to file a response to a 251-page appeal filed by U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli and other government attorneys who want the high court to hear more about why the chain should or should not include contraceptives in its required healthcare coverage to employees. Hobby […]
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Advancing Medicaid reform
The consultants recommended accepting federal Medicaid-expansion funding but using it to underwrite private insurance purchases for poor Oklahomans. SB 640 would have given these citizens a choice of private insurance or the present SoonerCare insurance plan. The Leavitt Partners wanted to push eligible clients to use the ACA’s health-insurance exchange and Indian Health Services. SB […]
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Getting real
Credit: Brad Gregg His reasoning? Well, as much as he’d “love” to kill the omnibus measure, Coburn just doesn’t think it’s sound political strategy. “I’d be leading the charge if I thought this would work, but it will not work,” he said. “It’s a denial of reality mixed with a whole bunch of hype to […]
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Time to inform, not denounce
Attorney General Scott Pruitt continues his futile attempt to have it declared unconstitutional. Gov. Mary Fallin refuses to accept our tax dollars back from Washington, D.C., to cover Oklahomans most in need of health coverage. Insurance Commissioner John Doak calls the ACA a “disaster,” and although his agency has received a federal grant to inform […]
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The good, the bad and the goofy
In other words: situation normal. Thirty-six months from now, you’ll enjoy an average tax reduction of 35 cents a day. Gov. Mary Fallin says that is necessary for Oklahoma to be more attractive to business decision-makers. Thirty-five cents daily more in our pockets with an effective date of 2016 doesn’t meet the smell test. Regardless, […]