End of Insure Oklahoma means end of health insurance for many [Tulsa World, Okla.]

June 08--The way Jon Gordon looks at it, paying the health-insurance premium is almost as important as paying the mortgage -- you just don't skip it.

"People get sick. Stuff happens," said Gordon, a CNC machinist for APSCO, a Tulsa manufacturing company. "I am pretty healthy. I very rarely go to the doctor, but I've got people depending on me. It's good to have a safety net."

That's why news that he and about 30,000 other working Oklahomans will lose their Insure Oklahoma health-care subsidies at year's end makes Gordon anxious.

"Frankly, I'm kind of nervous," Gordon said.

A combination of political events means Insure Oklahoma will end Dec. 31.

Oklahoma voters created the program in 2004 when they approved a tobacco tax increase to finance the state's share of the program.

Combining about $50 million a year in tobacco tax revenue, federal Medicaid funding and employer contributions, the program underwrites the cost of private insurance for working Oklahomans earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, currently about $31,322 a year for a family of four.

But last month, federal officials told the state that they were pulling Medicaid funding from the program unless it was changed dramatically to conform with the Affordable Care Act -- also known as "Obamacare."

With Gov. Mary Fallin's November decision not to accept Affordable Care Act funding to expand the state's Medicaid program, an estimated 150,000 to 180,000 Oklahomans who otherwise would have been covered will be uninsured.

About 21,000 of the Insure Oklahoma clients -- those earning more than 100 percent of the federal poverty level -- will be eligible to purchase private insurance with federal subsidies through the untested federal health-insurance exchange. But Insure Oklahoma clients -- employers and employees -- say they are sad to see a good program go away and, like Gordon, they say it makes them nervous about the future

Lester Howard, owner of Howard Brothers Florists in Oklahoma City, said Insure Oklahoma was an important means for his company to hold on to good workers.

"I think part of life is (people) work where they work because they can get health insurance," Howard said.

Now Howard says his employees have gotten accustomed to having insurance through their employer, and he isn't certain how he'll be able to pay for coverage without Insure Oklahoma.

Oklahoma City attorney John Curtis Branch said there is little chance his firm would have been able to offer coverage to its low-income workers without the Insure Oklahoma subsidy.

"I think it's fair to say that the three or four employees that we had on it at one time and the two who remain couldn't afford health insurance without it," Branch said. "Health insurance sure is not cheap."

At APSCO, Human Resources Manager Susanne Braddy said only a handful of workers qualify for the program, but it has made a big difference for those who do.

It has meant people who otherwise couldn't have afforded family coverage have been able to insure their spouse, she said.

The program subsidy has meant lower health-care coverage costs for the workers and the company, she said.

Tom Lettich of Catoosa said his now-closed disaster recovery business was able to offer health-care coverage to its employees only because of Insure Oklahoma.

"It facilitated insurance for a lot of people, and it was a great thing for business owners in Oklahoma," Lettich said. "Quite frankly, I'm astonished that they're getting rid of it."

Lettich said he is working to start another small business to employ more people, but the lack of Insure Oklahoma will make that process more difficult.

"A lot of people are going to lose their insurance because of it. It's a catastrophe on an epic scale, if you ask me," he said. "It's something I'll have to find a way around."

About Insure Oklahoma

What it does: Insure Oklahoma underwrites the costs of health insurance for working poor Oklahomans.

Funding: Federal Medicaid money, state tobacco tax revenue and employer and employee contributions.

State contribution: About $50 million.

History: In 2004, state voters approved an increase in the tobacco tax to fund the program.

Eligibility: Working Oklahomans earning up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level whose employers participate in the program.

Numbers: About 30,000 people purchase private insurance using Insure Oklahoma assistance.

Deadline: The program ends Dec. 31, when federal funding is withdrawn. About 21,000 Insure Oklahoma clients will be eligible for federally subsidized private insurance through a health insurance exchange. About 9,000 others will lose their coverage.

Wayne Greene 918-581-8308

[email protected]

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