Alert 110315: OK R3s Recommend Important OK-SAFE Meetings about Health Care Implementation MAR 16/19 OKC/Tulsa

OK-SAFE, Inc.

Member since 2009

PO Box 33148 Tulsa,

OK
74153

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View original OK-SAFE newsletter online here and make plans to attend one of these meetings in March!

OK-SAFE Action Alert 03/14/2011 In this issue:  Meetings re: Implementation fo ObamaCare via Health Insurance Exchanges Health Insurance Exchanges – Cornerstone of ‘ObamaCare’ Legislative Contact Info NEW! Idaho-SAFE Contact Us! Links   Visit our website: ok-safe.com Sign up for Newsletter/Action Alerts Radio   Listen to America in the Balance on Truth in Focus Internet radio. 3/13/11 – 1st Half: Interview with Alex Pettit, Oklahoma’s Chief Information Officer, how the CIO position was created, his duties, the goal of the state’s IT assessment; 2nd half: Rep. David Derby discusses HB 1170 which created the CIO position, the cost to the state;  HB 2130, removing the Insurance Commissioner from authority over the Insurance Exchanges. 3/6/11 – Interview with Rep. Dr. Mike Ritze regarding nullification of ObamaCare, HB 2026 in 2009 which laid the groundwork for the HUB/Exchanges, and how HB 1276 was neutralized in committee. 2/27/11 – Interview with Mark Croucher, independent insurance agent in Oklahoma, discussing concerns with the Health Insurance Exchange and its’ link to “ObamaCare” Truth in Focus Radio. New! Idaho-SAFE: Sovereignty and Free Enterprise is catching on – Check out the new Idaho-SAFE at www.idaho-safe.org Contact Us: Email: oksafe@windstream.net  Mail: OK-SAFE, Inc. P.O. Box 33148 Tulsa, OK  74153 2011 Dues now due. Pay online or make checks payable to OK-SAFE, Inc. and mail to the above P.O. Box. Individual: $50/yr Group: $100/yr OK-SAFE, Inc. is a 501c4 non-profit Oklahoma corporation.   Blogroll OK-SAFE Blog AxXiom for Liberty OCPAC OK2A OKforTEA OK Grassroots ROPE The Online POOP Tulsa 912 Project Research/News: American Deception American Policy Center Channeling Reality Constitutional Alliance EdWatch EPIC Freedom Advocates Global Research National Center for Constitutional Studies Randy Bright Articles Reinventing Government Scribd Sovereignty International Tulsa Beacon WND Oklahoma Conservative Agenda for 2011 It has been widely published that some in the majority caucus of the state legislature have determined to hold fiscal issues of the highest importance and ignore social issues. Many Oklahomans disagree and believe what they call social issues are really liberty issues. Check the Conservative Agenda for 2011 at Liberty Forge. If you agree, tell your OK legislator. OK-SAFE Meetings – Implementing ‘ObamaCare’ in Oklahoma via the Exchanges   Most Oklahomans (and most Americans) objected to the idea of socialized medicine as specified in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, (PPACA), aka ObamaCare.  It’s companion law was the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.  Collectively these two laws are referred to as the Affordable Care Act. It appears that the Henry/Fallin administrations, as well as the Oklahoma legislature, have been, and currently are, engaged in implementing the provisions of ObamaCare, as evidenced by the federal grant applications and legislation, while appearing to oppose ObamaCare via SQ 756 and the national lawsuit. There will be an open discussion/review of both the grants and the legislation paving the way for the implementation of ‘ObamaCare’ in Oklahoma at two meetings this week. See details below. OKC - Wednesday, March 16, 2011 – The Village Library, 10307 N. Penn Ave, The Village (OKC), Oklahoma.  Time 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Tulsa/Broken Arrow - Saturday, March 19, 2011 – Heartland HQ Building, 1008-B N. Hickory, Broken Arrow, OK.  Time: 10:00 am to 11:30 am. Currently, HB 2130 by Steele, is a key piece of enabling legislation dealing with the HUB board and the development of the Health Insurance Exchanges.  HB 2130 re3moves the Insurance Commissioner from oversight of the exchange and puts in place Dr. Terry Cline, OK Sec. of Health and Human Services, appointed by Gov. Fallin. This bill is being presented by freshman legislator Rep. Glen Mulready, (HD-68) who apparently agreed to carry this bill for leadership.  Leadership has not done him any favors here – HB 2130 is not a bill one would wish to be associated with in the future. We are recommending a NO vote on HB 2130.  We also suggest to Rep. Mulready that if he is anxious for approval that he might want to get dog – politicians make lousy friends. Psalm 118: 8,9 - “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man; It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.”   Oklahoma Legislators Contact Information Citizens need to stay engaged in the legislative process, reading and watching the bills, calling and visiting their legislators, and, if necessary, voting them right back out in 2012.  Info/Contacts: OK House Members 2011-12 – Click here. OK Senate Members 2011-12 – Click here. The Oklahoma Legislature website: www.lsb.state.ok.us/ The OK State Court Network: www.oscn.net OK House: 1-800-522-8502, or 1-405-521-2711 OK Senate: 1-800-865-6490, or 1405-524-0126 OK Governor’s Office: 1-800-865-5853, or 1-405-521-2342 OK Ethics Commission: 1-405-521-3451 Reagan was wrong.  Verify, then trust. Maybe.   OK Republicans Implement “ObamaCare”    On Friday, Feburary 25, 2011 OK Governor Mary Fallin issued a press release announcing ”Oklahoma Will Accept $54 M “Early Innovator Grant” to Support Oklahoma-Based Health Insurance Exchange.”   Noticably missing from the announcement is the fact that the “Early Innovators” grants are to fund implementation of the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure needed to operate Health Insurance Exchanges, a cornerstone of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka “ObamaCare.” The grant application, officially called the Cooperative Agreements to Support Innovative Exchange Information Technology Systems, is a 41-page document outlining the purpose, authority, and background of the funding “opportunity”, as well as eligibility requirements states must meet in order to qualify. The application also notes the specific sections of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, together referred to as the Affordable Care Act) authorizing the funding of the grant. Oklahoma was one of seven initial grant awardees, with our state getting the largest dollar amount – $54,582,269.  The grantee in Oklahoma is the Oklahoma Health Care Authority. According to Grants.gov, the expected number of awards is 51 – all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia. All of the exchanges are to be interoperable and usable by other states. Exchanges - Cornerstone of the PPACA The creation of Health Insurance Exchanges is a cornerstone of  PPACA (ObamaCare), without which there would be no socialized health care plan.  The plan requires an IT infrastructure to be in place in order to function.  No Exchanges, no ObamaCare. These insurance Exchanges are mentioned 278 times in the Act. The specific section of PPACA (ObamaCare) noted in the grant application are: Page 5 of the grant application cites Section 1311 of the PPACA. “C. Background On March 23, 2010, the President signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. On March 30, 2010, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 was signed into law. The two laws are collectively referred to as the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act includes a wide variety of provisions designed to expand coverage, provide more health care choices, enhance the quality of health care for all Americans, hold insurance companies more accountable, and lower health care costs. Among its provisions, the law provides grant funding to assist States in implementing parts of the Affordable Care Act. Section 1311 of the Affordable Care Act provides funding assistance to the States for the planning and establishment of Health Insurance Exchanges (“Exchanges”). The Affordable Care Act provides that each State may elect to establish an Exchange that would: 1) facilitate the purchase of qualified health plans (QHPs); 2) provide for the establishment of a Small Business Health Options Program (“SHOP Exchange”) designed to assist qualified employers in facilitating the enrollment of their employees in QHPs offered in the SHOP Exchange; and 3) meet other requirements specified in the Act.” Pages 6 & 7 of the application cite Section 1323 of the PPACA: “The products of this Cooperative Agreement will be available to all States and the District of Columbia for evaluation and adaptability throughout the process so that non-grantee-States will not have to wait until a complete product is finished to test for adaptability for its existing systems. As IT systems are developed, attention should be paid to assuring that information gathered will be accessible for evaluation purposes. U.S. Territories that establish Exchanges under Section 1323 will be eligible to participate in the evaluation and adaptability process and the products developed under this Cooperative Agreement will be available to them.” Pages 7, 17, 21, 28, and 29 of the application cite Section 1561 of PPACA: Key Principles of Exchange IT capabilities for Early Innovators • The organization governing the design, development, and implementation of the core capabilities must follow standard industry Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) frameworks including the use of iterative and incremental development methodologies. The governing body must also be able to produce requirement specifications, analysis, design, code, and testing that can be easily shared with other interested and authorized stakeholders (i.e., other States, consortia of States, or any entity that is responsible for establishing an Exchange). • The design must take advantage of a Web Services Architecture (using XML, SOAP and WSDL or REST) and Service Oriented Architecture approach for design and development leveraging the concepts of a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., Cloud Computing). • The services description/definition, services interfaces, policies and business rules, must be published in a web services registry to support both internal and external service requests that are public and private, and be able to manage role-based access to underlying data. • Per Section 1561 of the Affordable Care Act, all designs must follow the standards thatare currently outlined in the recommendations published by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC). For details on Section 1561 Standards, see: http://healthit.hhs.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&mode=2&objID=3161. • Per National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publications, the design and implementation must take into account security standards and controls. (For details on NIST publications, see: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.html) Health Insurance Exchange Legislation Currently there are several live bills implementing the Health Insurance Exchange but two worth noting are SB 960 by Sen. Bill Brown, and HB 2130 by Rep. Kris Steele. Health Insurance Exchange Impact on Independent Brokers Several independent insurance brokers in Oklahoma are concerned about the impact the exchanges will have on their businesses.  The exchanges operate contrary to the free enterprise system and most likely will put the independent insurance broker out of business.  Click here to hear the 2/27/11 interview with Mark Croucher of WHY-Insurance. To contact Governor Fallin about this issue: Phone: 405-521-2342 To call Senate Pro-Temp Brian Bingman: Phone: 405-521-5528 Email: bingman@oksenate.gov To call House Speaker Kris Steele: Phone: 1-405-557-7345 Email: krissteele@okhouse.gov More on this subject in the weeks ahead.   OK-SAFE, Inc., PO Box 33148, Tulsa, OK 74153