House Democrats Praise HB1381 Passage

House Democrats today applauded the passage of House Bill 1381, the "Shopp Proposal," which garnered significant support in its fourth reading with a vote of 80-15 to enact the measure into law.

“I want to thank Rep. Doug Cox, who worked tremendously hard this year on securing support for this measure, and I also want to thank all the past legislators who since 2006 took up this mantle on behalf of the Oklahoma Hospital Association and indigent patients,” said Democratic Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City.

“My good friend and former colleague Lucky Lamons introduced this bill every year for six years, through 2010, but each year the bill stalled. I am pleased that, although long overdue, our hospitals will now have a new avenue of revenue in which they can be adequately paid for the cost of care they provide to Medicaid patients.”

House Bill 1381, titled the “Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program” (SHOPP) authorizes the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to assess hospitals licensed in the state, unless exempted, a supplemental hospital offset payment program fee. Participating hospitals will be assessed a fee of 2.5% of their annual net patient revenue based upon 2009 Medicare cost reports.

The SHOPP proposal will result in $152 million generated by assessed hospitals, with a federal match of $269 million. Of these total funds ($421 million), $338 million would be paid to hospitals as supplemental payments and $83 million would be used to maintain current SoonerCare payment rates for providers.

“I would like to credit the Oklahoma Hospital Association and their members for their work to educate the public and elected officials on the importance of this bill,” said Rep. Jeannie McDaniel, D-Tulsa. “They held meetings throughout the interim to answer questions and actively empower us to understand the issues. They were the backbone of changing the language so it might withstand legal challenges and really brought the bill to passage.”

Language is included in the bill that states that a hospital may not charge any patient for any portion of the supplemental hospital offset payment program fee.

The SHOPP fee will sunset on December 31, 2014 unless legislation is enacted to continue the program.

The bill now goes to the Senate for consideration and final approval.

Share |