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In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
Today you should know that the Insurance Commissioner predicts that the federal government will initially run Oklahoma’s health insurance exchange, but says the state should move towards building its own compliant exchange. While Governor Fallin has publically criticized the Affordable Care Act, she is still considering whether or not to accept federal dollars to expand Medicaid to cover most of the state’s low-income uninsured adults. OK Policy recently reported on the options left for Oklahoma’s insurance exchange and the benefits of expanding SoonerCare/Medicaid.
Former prosecutor Wes Lane was appointed chairman of the DHS Commission, a nine-member panel that oversees the agency that provides services to vulnerable children, seniors, and persons with disabilities. Chesapeake Energy Corp. confirms that they’ve been subpoenaed in a federal antitrust investigation, and that several state government agencies have asked for documents in connection with their oil and gas leases.
Oklahoma lags behind other states in supplying a national background check database used for firearm sales with records of individuals with mental illness; the state has submitted just three such records since 2009. State officials are at odds over how commuting an offender’s sentence interacts with another rule that makes some offenders ineligible for parole until they have served at least 85 percent of their sentence. The state distributed more than $3.87 million in grants to hundreds of rural fire departments.
Some counties have seen a dramatic increase in cases of the West Nile virus. The Department of the Interior says that a $1.9 billion settlement for mismanagement of divided tribal lands will not be subject to government liens. The Number of the Day is the number of low-income, uninsured women in Oklahoma who received breast and cervical cancer treatment through the state’s Medicaid program last year. In today’s Policy Note, The Pew Center on the States reports that so far ‘fracking’ in Oklahoma has impacted the water supply in relatively minor ways, but that regulators are monitoring its ongoing effects on water resources.
In The News
Insurance commissioner shares info on health care exchanges
Doak said Friday of a potential federal health care exchange “we don’t know what it will look like,” and the timing of its potential implementation is uncertain. But, he added, Oklahoma likely would go into a federal exchange if a state exchange isn’t set up by the deadline, and if the law survives after the elections. “I think we have to be under the assumption the federal exchange will be ready,” Doak said, “and then we will have to thoughtfully and carefully consider what’s best for Oklahoma, and then pull out of it and move into something that is more reflective of our values.” Doak said even if Oklahoma is forced into a federal health care exchange, the state still could create its own exchange in accordance with the ACA requirements and opt out of the federal-level exchange.
Read more from the Enid News & Eagle at http://enidnews.com/localnews/x1555259322/Insurance-commissioner-shares-info-on-health-care-exchanges
Analysis: Fallin could lose debate with herself over ‘Obamacare’
As a result, the Medicaid expansion is optional for each state. Several GOP governors quickly stepped forward to reject the expansion on ideological, political and fiscal grounds. Fallin has not. With hospitals and business interests lobbying her to accept the money, she has said she wants to take her time and consider carefully all the issues. She has also said that the law in general is unaffordable, unworkable and should be repealed and replaced by Mitt Romney after he is elected president. No decision is likely until after the November election. While her words about the law have been harsh, they leave the door slightly ajar if Romney were to lose.
Read more from the Tulsa World at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=711&articleid=20120812_16_A13_CUTLIN577885
Step up or step aside: Looming deadline forces Oklahoma’s hand on a health exchange
It seems virtually certain Oklahoma will miss the November 16 deadline. We haven’t moved on exchange planning in over a year. The Legislature tried and failed to pass exchange-establishment bills during the last two sessions, bills that wouldn’t have passed muster as a blueprint for our state-based exchange anyway because they weren’t compliant with federal law. Gov. Fallin won’t be calling a special session and the Insurance Commissioner wants legislative guidance before he’ll move forward.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog at https://okpolicy.org/step-up-or-step-aside-looming-deadline-forces-oklahomas-hand-on-a-health-exchange/
Health care reform’s Medicaid expansion is right for Oklahoma
Oklahoma now can choose not to expand Medicaid to cover more people without insurance living below the poverty line. But such a choice would squander the chance for as many as 180,000 struggling Oklahomans to get health insurance coverage and leave hospitals and other health care providers on the hook for uncompensated medical care. The choice for Oklahoma – and other states – should be simple. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government will pick up the bulk of the tab for expanding Medicaid (as we discussed at length in this issue brief and this blog post). It will cover 91.7 percent of the cost of providing health insurance to between 137,000 and 180,000 Oklahomans between 2014 and 2020, according to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s estimates.
Read more from the OK Policy Blog at https://okpolicy.org/health-care-reforms-medicaid-expansion-is-right-for-oklahoma/
Former prosecutor to head Oklahoma DHS Commission
Gov. Mary Fallin has appointed a longtime Oklahoma prosecutor as the new chairman of the Department of Human Services Commission. Fallin named Wes Lane to the post on Wednesday. Lane replaces Brad Yarbrough, who resigned as commission chairman in June but remains a commissioner. Lane is a longtime Oklahoma County prosecutor who served more than five years as the county’s elected district attorney. The DHS commission is a nine-member panel that oversees the agency that provides services to vulnerable children, the elderly and disabled Oklahomans.
Read more from the Associated Press at http://enidnews.com/state/x1447680823/Former-prosecutor-to-head-Oklahoma-DHS-Commission
Chesapeake Energy confirms federal inquiry of Michigan land deals
The federal government has opened an antitrust investigation of Chesapeake Energy Corp. over land and lease deals in Michigan, the Oklahoma City company confirmed Thursday. In regulatory filings, Chesapeake said it received a subpoena from a field office of the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division. Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Michigan have opened a federal grand jury inquiry into the purchase and lease of oil and gas rights. Chesapeake also said several state government agencies have asked for documents in connection with oil and gas leases.
Read more from NewsOK at http://newsok.com/chesapeake-energy-confirms-federal-inquiry-of-michigan-land-deals/article/3699620#ixzz23N2j1v5c
Oklahoma continues to lag in submitting mental health records to federal database
Oklahoma consistently lags behind other states in supplying mental health records to the national database used for these types of background checks, according to a 2011 report by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a national gun control advocacy group. Though federal law attempts to motivate states to submit these records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), Oklahoma has only sent three mental health records since 2009, according to Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Texas, by comparison, has sent nearly 200,000.
Read more from NewsOK at http://newsok.com/oklahoma-continues-to-lag-in-submitting-mental-health-records-to-federal-database/article/3700225#ixzz23NUBgH42
DA holds firm on stance that parole board is violating law
State law prohibits convicts of certain crimes – including murder, manslaughter, rape, shooting with intent to kill, child abuse – from parole eligibility until they have served at least 85 percent of their court sentence. But state officials are now debating whether the 85-percent rule can prevent those inmates from receiving recommendation for a commuted sentence by the board. Pardon and Parole Board officials maintain they’ve never violated the law and have not granted parole to anyone serving an 85-percent sentence – the board has only recommended commutation in a few cases of 85-percent crimes. Commutation – the governor’s ability to shorten or modify prison sentences – is a separate power under the constitution that is not subject to the legislation that created the 85-percent rule, they said.
Read more from the Tulsa World at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20120812_11_A13_Oklaho452842
State distributes $3.87 million to rural firefighters
More than $3.87 million in operational grants to fund 863 rural fire departments across the state have been distributed, state officials announced Friday. The Oklahoma Legislature funded the grants, which were authorized by Gov. Mary Fallin. The grants help departments in communities with a population of under 10,000 people and can be used for a variety of needs.
Read more from the Tulsa World at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=716&articleid=20120810_716_0_hrimgs281080
Tulsa Man One Of Nine In County To Contract West Nile
The Oklahoma Department of Health is warning residents to take precautions to prevent mosquito bites, because of a dramatic increase in West Nile Virus cases. There have been more than 30 cases in ten different counties this year and the most are in Tulsa County. Tulsa County has nine confirmed cases of West Nile Virus, and most of the cases are the most severe form of the virus.
Read more from NewsOn6 at http://www.newson6.com/story/19247293/west
Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole assured U.S. government won’t put liens on divided tribal lands
David Hayes, Interior’s deputy secretary, said in a letter to Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, that purchases made with the money set aside in the settlement are not subject to liens. “None of the express purposes of the ($1.9 billion) allow for the imposition of liens on tribes to repay the value of lands,” Hayes stated. “The Cobell settlement was reached to compensate tribal members for decades of mismanagement,” Cole said. Applying liens “would be tantamount to requiring tribes to fund the United States government’s obligation under the settlement.”
Read more from NewsOK at http://newsok.com/oklahoma-rep.-tom-cole-assured-u.s.-government-wont-put-liens-on-divided-tribal-lands/article/3699968#ixzz23NAwQHSe
Quote of the Day
I think we have to be under the assumption the federal exchange will be ready, and then we will have to thoughtfully and carefully consider what’s best for Oklahoma, and then pull out of it and move into something that is more reflective of our values.
Insurance Commissioner John Doak, on a requirement under the new federal health law that states begin operating online health insurance exchanges by January 2014
Number of the Day
3,029
Number of low-income, uninsured women in Oklahoma who received breast and cervical cancer treatment through the state’s Medicaid program during FY 2012
Source: Oklahoma Health Care Authority
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Farmers, Frackers and Scarce Water
Such is the case in Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, where regulators say they’ve seen few conflicts between drilling companies and rights holders downstream because few drillers are drawing from rivers and streams. Compared to other uses, fracking so far has had a “relatively minor” impact on Oklahoma’s water resources, says Brian Vance of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. But that’s not to say officials in Oklahoma aren’t concerned about fracking’s eventual impact on supply. Oklahoma is working to overhaul its broad water policy amid predictions of a 33 percent increase in demand over the next 50 years. “It’s an issue,” Vance says. “It’s certainly something we’re looking at.”
Read more from the Pew Center on the States at http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/farmers-frackers-and-scarce-water-85899410542
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