The desire to stop the president's health care initiative has caused Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin to turn down the $54 million health reform grant she once proudly supported, saying she would not support the federal health care exchange.
Under mounting pressure from local Republican legislators, Fallin said her state would not accept the $54 million Early Innovator Grant" awarded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
It is by far the largest health reform grant that any state has rejected. Other states have returned or turned down $1 million exchange planning grants.
HHS distributed $241 million in Early Innovator Grants in February, awarding funds to seven states that would build the technology infrastructure that other states would use as a model. Three of those states — Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Kansas — are run by Republican governors.
Fallin, more so than her counterparts in Wisconsin and Kansas, came under harsh criticism for accepting the funds. Now, Fallin says her state will still pursue a health exchange — but forego the $54 million federal funding opportunity it was set to receive.
Under President Obama's health care reforms, each state is expected to have a health care exchange set up by 2014. If a state chooses not to set up its own state-based exchange, HHS is obligated to set one up for the state. However, lawmakers in Oklahoma aren't letting that happen, either.
Fallin said Thursday Oklahoma will use state and private money to establish its own exchange, even though the state faces a $500 million budget shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year.
In a recent interview at the National Governors' Association meeting, Fallin spoke in strong support of the grant opportunity and what it would allow Oklahoma to do, as well as some of the flexibilities offered under the law.
When Fallin received the grant in February, she praised the new funds.
She said after thoroughly reviewing the grant, the federal assistance offered through the grant was consistent with Oklahoma's mission to design and implement an Oklahoma-based health insurance exchange.
Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
