2006 Session Accomplishments

Promises Made, Promises Kept

Common education

Senate democrats fought for and won passage of a bill which ensured record education funding. We are committed to excellence in Oklahoma schools. Our talented teachers deserve to be compensated for the critical role they play bringing out the best in our children.

Roads

During my campaign I often said that our roads and bridges were disgraceful and needed attention. We made a real difference this year by changing (but not increasing) funds collected as part of the Vehicle Licenses and Registration to improve County roads and bridges. This apportionment will grow to 10% in FY’09 and 15% in FY’10 for a total annual fiscal impact of approximately $85 million.

OU-Tulsa Emergency Room Residency Program

Oklahoma does not have an MD emergency room residency program in the State. The OU medical school is surely one of the largest in the country to lack such a program. This year, we provided funding to start this residency program and we made sure that the program will be in Tulsa to help out Tulsa’s overcrowded emergency rooms.

End Hospital Price Discrimination

Our hospitals routinely charge an uninsured patient as much as three times the rate that an insured patient is charged. In my Medicaid reform bill, that practice will be history. Beginning November 2007, hospitals will be required to extend discounts to patients with a household income of up to 300% of the federal poverty level. The maximum hospital charge may not exceed Medicare rates.

Covering More Uninsured

I fought for and won expanding health insurance coverage for young adults. Now, Oklahomans age 23 and younger enrolled in college are eligible for state subsidized health care. This program will provide health coverage for about 12,500 uninsured Oklahomans.

Small Business Health Insurance Assistance

I was able to expand the number of businesses eligible to participate in this program. Basically, Oklahoma’s premium assistance program offers a state and federally funded voucher to help small businesses afford health insurance for their employees. This is one of the most innovative programs in the country, and I am hopeful that it will serve as a national model. Also we were able to add parents of Medicaid eligible children to the program. If we are going to address the health insurance crisis, we have to do something about the record number of uninsured through programs such as this one.

Hospital transparency

Consumers should have full disclosure of hospital infection rates when they are making a choice about where to go for help. When the House would not hear a bill about this issue alone, I was able to add it to the Medicaid Reform Bill which did pass successfully. Now, hospitals will have to report to the Oklahoma Department of Health on over 37 quality of care indicators, including the incidence of hospital acquired infections and ventilator associated pneumonia.