Before the 2010 state legislative session even started, I had begun working with my fellow members of the Senate Republican Caucus on legislation to protect Oklahoma should Washington D.C. succeed in pushing through what many have referred to as “ObamaCare.”

Coffee Talk

By Senate President Pro Tem

Glenn Coffee

This past week, we saw that our efforts were prudent, and now must continue our work to shield this state from the disastrous government takeover of healthcare. It is truly an unmatched intrusion by the federal government into the lives of private citizens and already struggling businesses.

This bill represents a huge step away from personal, private coverage and choice, and instead shifts to a Washington-controlled healthcare system that will ration care, limit choice and reduce quality, innovation and competition. Not only does this represent an unprecedented intrusion into private lives, but it also represents an explosion in government bureaucracy. This bill creates 159 new government agencies charged with regulating insurance and medical care for Americans.

It also contains unfunded state mandates. Despite an estimated $80 billion in taxpayer dollars lost every single year due to Medicare and Medicaid fraud, the bill drastically expands the currently unsustainable Medicaid program from 100 percent of the federal poverty level to 133 percent. Ultimately the cost to Oklahoma taxpayers just to fill the gap in Medicaid left by the Federal government will approach or even exceed $1 billion over ten years.

As to the direct cost to private citizens and businesses, the bill will increase taxes by $569.2 billion over ten years—again, that will hurt, not help, middle-class families and small businesses. But the bill also includes $528.5 billion in cuts to Medicare, which means benefits will be reduced while premiums on our seniors will be reduced. And despite countless promises that this would save American families thousands of dollars on their insurance premiums, this health care plan will actually increase premiums by 10 to 13 percent.

Currently, several measures are already working their way through the Oklahoma Legislature to shield our state from the serious and long-lasting negative effects of ObamaCare. We’ve approved a joint resolution petitioning the federal government to opt-out of any federal mandates related to health care reform, and asking for waivers to the state Medicaid program to enable Oklahoma to implement our own health care reforms—this includes asking the federal government to return any taxes collected from individuals or businesses in Oklahoma under federal health care reform in the form of a block grant which could be used to fund healthcare programs created by Oklahomans and for Oklahomans.

We’ve also called on the Attorney General to file a lawsuit blocking this law from taking effect. Another measure making its way through the process would let Oklahoma voters decide whether to amend our Constitution to stop ObamaCare from being forced on our state.

I think it is important to congratulate Oklahoma’s delegation. Every single member, including Democrat U.S. Representative Dan Boren, voted against the federal takeover of healthcare. In addition, Oklahoma’s Insurance Commissioner, Kim Holland, also a Democrat, has also been vocal in expressing her concerns about the bill. According to her estimates, she has warned it could cost Oklahoma $116 million a year.

The political powers that be in Washington may have thought they could run over private citizens and the U.S. Constitution, but here in Oklahoma, we are doing everything we can to stop that runaway train in its tracks.