Dear Friend, As you know, lawmakers were called back to work this week by the Governor to reach an agreement that would deal with the state's budget shortfalls, address inefficiencies, and provide a teacher pay raise. Unfortunately, House leaders are considering a measure that would achieve none of these goals but would instead impose new, unnecessary costs on state agencies while creating siginificant barriers to health care access for Oklahoma families that rely on SoonerCare. HB 1093 - the deceptively named HOPE Act - would require the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to subject SoonerCare patients to enhanced verification procedures to determine eligibility for coverage of their medical needs. The bill is a carbon copy of legislation (HB 1270) that passed both chambers during regular session but failed to gain final approval. It originates from a Florida-based advocacy group that is pushing identical bills in multiple states. HB 1093 would require intensive quarterly eligibility verification for most SoonerCare members and applications, and require new applicants to complete a quiz of personal and financial questions to prove their identity. The bill would impose new start-up costs ($1.2 million) and recurring annual costs ($1.0 - $1.2 million) on a cash-strapped state agency. The legislation doesn't serve any worthwhile purpose and perpetuates the mistaken notion that public benefit programs like Medicaid are riddled with fraud and abuse — when, in reality, Oklahoma's Medicaid program has the lowest payment error rate in the nation. Creating expensive and cumbersome new bureaucratic procedures is not what lawmakers have been asked to do in Special Session. What You Can Do HB 1093 has been scheduled for a hearing in the House rules committee at 9:30AM, Thursday, September 28. Although the full House has gone into recess, tomorrow's committee meetings are still on the schedule. Please contact members of the House Rules committee and your legislators and urge them to vote No on HB 1093. You can find contact information for the House Rules committee here. You can look up your two legislators here or call the House switchboard at 405-521-2711 and the Senate switchboard at 405-524-0126. Short message: Lawmakers have been called back into Special Session to fix the budget and provide a teacher pay raise, not to create expensive and unnecessary new barriers to health care. Please vote No on HB 1093. See our advocacy alert on HB 1093 for more talking points and links to blog posts, op-eds and other resources on the earlier version of HB 1093 Thank you for concern and involvement. The OK Policy Team | Oklahoma Policy Institute
907 S Detroit Ave, Suite 1005
Tulsa, OK 74120
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