Some Oklahoma Republican of‌ficials defend health care program they once opposed

The program is Insure Oklahoma, and some state Republican of‌ficials — particularly Gov. Mary Fallin — have embraced it in the past few years and pushed the Obama administration to keep it alive.

WASHINGTON — It is a health insurance program heavily subsidized by the government that allows individuals to buy coverage they couldn’t otherwise af‌ford.

Obamacare?

Nope.

The program is called Insure Oklahoma, and some state Republican of‌ficials — particularly Gov. Mary Fallin — have embraced it in the past few years and pushed the Obama administration to keep it alive.

A few years ago, however, some of the same Republicans defending it now voted against the program.

Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, former Senate GOP leader Glenn Cof‌fee and Oklahoma Republican Party chairman Randy Brogdon cast votes against either its creation or expansion or both when they were members of the Oklahoma Senate.

Created by Democratic Gov. Brad Henry and the Democratic legislature in 2004, the program is now threatened by the Af‌fordable Care Act, the health care law created by a Democratic president and Democratic Congress.

And if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Af‌fordable Care Act’s system of tax subsidies this month, about 8,000 Oklahomans who had coverage through Insure Oklahoma but were forced into the federal program could be hurt — again.

The Supreme Court decision could come down as soon as Monday.

In all, about 87,000 Oklahomans in the federal insurance exchange could lose subsidies and no longer be able to af‌ford their policies.

And if the Obama administration won’t renew the Insure Oklahoma program later this year, thousands more Oklahomans will lose health coverage.

Nearly 18,000 people are currently insured through the program, with 75 percent of those getting coverage through the employer-sponsored portion.

Fallin aide Alex Weintz said last week that the governor supports the program and has pushed hard to keep it alive.

Fallin praised the program two years ago for “helping so many Oklahomans and small businesses.”

Insure Oklahoma was created to help small businesses of‌fer health insurance to their employees.

The state uses a pot of money from the national settlement with tobacco companies, along with Medicaid money, which is a mix of federal and state funds. The employer and employee also pay a portion of the premiums.

GOP opposition

The program was expanded to include larger businesses and to allow individuals to participate without going through an employer.

When the bill creating the program was approved by the Senate in 2004, every vote in opposition came from Republicans. Among those serving in the Senate at the time were Pruitt, Glenn Cof‌fee, and Randy Brogdon. Cof‌fee was the Senate Republican leader and Fallin’s first secretary of state. Brogdon is now the chairman of the state Republican Party.

Two years later, all of the votes against a bill to expand the program to more businesses came from Republicans, including Pruitt, Brogdon and Lamb.

Lamb said in a statement last week that Insure Oklahoma has proven to be a success.

“It helps Oklahoma small businesses to compete and working Oklahomans take control of their health care needs. This is a good example of how states can exercise their sovereignty via the 10th amendment and find solutions to challenges.”

Medicaid expansion

Insure Oklahoma got a lot more popular with Republicans after Obama’s Af‌fordable Care Act became law and after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not be required to expand Medicaid — a health insurance program for the poor — under that law.

Fallin and Republicans didn’t want to expand Medicaid and instead pointed to Insure Oklahoma — which uses Medicaid money — as an alternative.

But Insure Oklahoma has enrollment limits because it relies on the finite pool of tobacco settlement money, and the Obama administration wants Medicaid expanded to all people who meet the income test.

In 2013, Pruitt fired of‌f a pointed letter to the Obama administration questioning its decision not to renew the Medicaid waiver for Insure Oklahoma.

Pruitt said the administration’s “reversal of course was driven by a desire to coerce Oklahoma into implementing the Medicaid expansion that is part of the Af‌fordable Care Act.”

The program was extended through this year, but the Obama administration reduced the eligibility for people not purchasing it through work.

According to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, that knocked 8,000 Oklahomans out of Insure Oklahoma and into the federal exchanges.

If the Supreme Court rules this month that subsidies aren’t available in federal exchanges, they will likely be out of coverage again.

The state could still choose to expand Medicaid. The White House said last week that 127,000 uninsured Oklahomans would gain coverage if Medicaid was expanded.

Pruitt’s views

Pruitt, who was among the conservatives that sued the Obama administration over tax subsidies in the federal exchanges, will again try to save Insure Oklahoma if necessary this year, his spokesman told The Oklahoman.

Asked about the attorney general’s shift in sentiment about the program, Cooper said, “Whether or not there are other options, it’s clear Insure Oklahoma, as a state-
administered program, is a far better choice than expanding Medicaid under the Af‌fordable Care Act.

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