Add this site to your start page

CREDITWRENCH-TheTruth

This blog is dedicated to illustrating the depths of depravity to debt collectors and their cronies who infest various message boards spewing their spam, insults and filth can and do sink. They will stop at nothing to berate others while trying to elevate their own perceived worth.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

Speaker Todd Hiett
Oklahoma House of Representatives

Hiett Announces Advancement of House GOP Healthcare Reform Measures

OKLAHOMA CITY (March 8, 2005) - All three pillars of the comprehensive
health care reform agenda unveiled last week by Speaker of the Oklahoma
House Todd Hiett have unanimously passed out of committee and are set to
be heard on the House floor.

"This is a very reassuring sign that the House is committed to offering
Oklahomans more choices and more control over their individual health
care packages," said Hiett, R-Kellyville. "As we embrace competition in
the health care industry, we will see lowering health care costs."

The announcement came as House Bill 1848, by Rep. Kris Steele, and House
Bill 1411, by Rep. Doug Cox, both passed unanimously out of the House
Appropriations and Budget Committee yesterday.

The third pillar of Hiett's agenda, House Bill 1853, also by Steele,
passed unanimously out of the House Health and Human Services Committee
March 1.

Steele, R-Shawnee, is chairman of the Health and Human Services
Committee. Cox, R-Grove, who has been a practicing physician for over 20
years, is vice chairman of the committee.

HB 1853, the Rx for Oklahoma Act, would provide a statewide program
offering free help to people to receive free or discounted prescription
drugs.

Based on the successful Prescription Assistance program in Norman, the
Rx for Oklahoma Act will provide funding to the state Department of
Commerce to establish various access points for the expanded program,
including community action agencies, county offices of the state
Department of Human Services, and county health departments.

HB 1848, the Health Savings Account Act, empowers individuals and
employers to establish Health Savings Accounts in Oklahoma. These
accounts allow individuals (or employers on behalf of their employees)
who purchase a high deductible insurance policy to deposit and expend
cash free from Oklahoma income tax for qualified medical expenses.

The amount that may be contributed and spent is the lower of 100 percent
of the deductible (which must be at least $1,000 for individuals and
$2,000 for families) or $2,600 for an individual or $5,150 for a family.

Hiett said the measure offers a powerful alternative to traditional
health insurance.

HB 1411 provides more clinicians for rural communities. Rural areas of
Oklahoma face a continuing health care personnel shortage - with fewer
doctors and other clinicians available each year.

The measure requires the Physician Manpower Training Commission to
expand the benefits for its Rural Medical Education Loan and Scholarship
program to students preparing to become Physician Assistants.

Right now, the program only applies to students preparing to become
physicians. The loan program provides qualified individuals with
demonstrated financial need who commit to practice their profession in a
rural town one year's scholarship (up to $15,000) for each year they
practice in the rural area. They must practice for at least two years.

Hiett has said the three major proposals for health care reform only
present a part of the solution. He also emphasized the importance of
legislation reforming Oklahoma's workers' compensation system (HB 2046),
as well as a comprehensive plan to offer lawsuit reform (HB 2047 -
Justice & Common Sense Act). HB 2046 passed the House last week, while
HB 2047 has passed out of committee.

-30-