Health Exchanges: OK Gov. Refuses Grant Money

NewAmerican - Back in February, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, a Republican, announced that the Sooner State would be accepting a $54.6 million grant from the federal government to help create a health insurance exchange for Oklahomans that's required by the new healthcare law dubbed ObamaCare. But last Thursday, Fallin reversed her position, saying the state would not accept the federal grant. Fallin, a former Congresswoman, voted against ObamaCare in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was elected Governor of Oklahoma last November, and though she has continued to express her opposition to ObamaCare, she has also said that the federal legislation is now the "law of the land," that it requires states to set up healthcare exchanges by the end of 2013, and that Oklahoma faces a budget shortfall this year. In her mind, it made sense to accept the federal grant to develop the exchange’s infrastructure. (The grant was requested by former Governor Brad Henry, a Democrat.)

This, to prevent the FedGov from foisting its own plan on Oklahoma, in the absence of a state plan. Legislation to create a governing board for the state plan — HB 2130 — was drawn up in the Oklahoma House of Representatives by Speaker Kris Steele (R-Shawnee) and passed by a razor-thin margin. Then resistance came. A funny thing happened to the bill on the way to the Oklahoma State Senate. Its leadership, led by President Pro Tempore Brian Bingman (R-Sapulpa), feared that accepting the big bucks from Washington would wed the state to ObamaCare. Not only that, but Governor Fallin decided that, instead of accepting the $54.6 million federal grant, it would be better to reject it. Activist Charlie Meadows, of Guthrie, Oklahoma, credits the conservative grassroots, having been educated on the issue at hand and speaking against it, with exerting much-needed, bottom-up pressure against taking the money. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Health Exchanges: OK Gov. Refuses Grant Money