Improving Health, Health Care and Health Insurance in Oklahoma

1
Improving Health, Health Care and Health
Insurance in Oklahoma

• Presented by
• Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland

2
The Commonwealth Fund. (2007). Aiming Higher
Results from a State Scorecard on Health System
Performance.
3
Access

• 662,000 uninsured Almost 20 of Oklahomas
  population
• RWJF/SCI planning grant for uninsured coverage
• Core Health Benefits Task Force created/ CHAT
  (Choosing Healthplans All Together)
• Premium assistance expansion

4
Recent Legislation

• House Bill 1225 (2007) Expansion of the Premium
  Assistance Program
• Author/Co-Authors Representative Benge and
  Senator Crutchfield
• Expands the premium assistance program to include
  parents of children eligible for Medicaid
• Authorizes OHCA to seek waivers to expand the
  premium assistance program to employers with 250
  or fewer employees
• Authorizes OHCA to seek waivers to extend the
  premium assistance program to include employees
  whose family income does not exceed 250 FPL

5
Quality

• Formation of the Oklahoma Health Care Quality
  Improvement advisory committee under the
  leadership of Secretary of Health Dr. Mike
  Crutcher.
• Health Information Security and Privacy
  Collaboration and SMARTNET

6
Avoidable Hospital Use Costs

• Uncompensated hospital care cost 515 million
• According to a report by the health consumer
  organization Families USA, cost shift adds
  1,781per family of four annually to the cost of
  health insurance
• Uncompensated care is defined as hospital bad
  debt, write off and charity cost given for free

7
Equity

• Significant racial disparities in access to
  coverage and quality of care
• Significant investment by our Native American
  communities in health promotion, disease
  prevention, primary and chronic degenerative
  diseases for the benefit of their populations

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Equity

• Targeted efforts to better understand and address
  disparities in health status among the African
  American population - state and philanthropic
  involvement
• Expansion of Medicaid and other programs targeted
  at vulnerable populations particularly, children

9
Recent Legislation

• Senate Bill 424 (2007) The All Kids Act
• Author/Co-Authors Senator Adelson and
  Representative Cox
• The Act directs the Oklahoma Health Care
  Authority (OHCA) to establish and maintain a
  program to provide medical coverage assistance to
  children 18 or younger
• Family incomes must be between 185 and 300 FPL
• Children in the program are offered a voucher
  and/or subsidy toward the cost of privately
  sponsored health insurance

10
Healthy Lives

• Governor Brad Henrys statewide effort to improve
  the health of our residents - Strong and Healthy
  Oklahoma

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Done That (Past)
Programs currently in place/ individuals covered
Children 480,000
Adults 263,000
Total 743,000
Doing This (Present)
Areas that are either developed or being developed/ refined
Children 90,000
Adults 380,000
Total 470,000
Could Do (Future)
Processes and resources that are necessary for universal coverage/access
Children 22,000
Adults 170,000
Total 192,000
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• We endorse the IOM foundation principle that
  health care should be safe, effective,
  patient-centered, timely, efficient and
  equitable.
• Sustainability is essential and will require a
  substantial involvement of resources to improve
  our rankings.