Oklahoma Uninsured Decline Doesn’t Change Health Care Reform Arguments

It’s good news for sure that Oklahoma’s uninsured rate has supposedly dropped, but it changes nothing in the overall health care debate here and elsewhere

Let’s be clear. Even at a 15.9 percent uninsured rate, down from 18.3 percent, the state still has way too many people who fall through the cracks when it comes to health care. The numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show that 565,000 Oklahomans in 2007-2008 were uninsured. That’s a staggering, high number, but it’s down from 646,000 in 2006-2007.

In addition, those with insurance continue to face rising premiums and co-payments for medical treatments and prescriptions drugs. I recently reported on how premiums and co-payments were increasing for teachers and state employees under the HealthChoice insurance program. A doctor’s visit co-payment will now be $50 starting Jan.1.

Most families are also just one serious illness away from bankruptcy even if they do have insurance. People continue to be hassled by health insurance companies over pre-existing conditions and other claims. Many people, even those working people with insurance, simply put off health care because it costs so much. The system is in a crisis.

The OK Policy Blog, part of the Oklahoma Policy Institute, had the best take on the decrease, but it conceded the numbers might “stretch at the margins of error on any statistical sample.”

According to OK Policy Blog:

The fact that Oklahoma fared better than the nation as a whole in insurance coverage last year is not entirely surprising, given that our economy staved off the recession a good 6-12 months longer than most other states. However, the magnitude of the state’s gains was surely unexpected. The recent growth in the Insure Oklahoma program, which now subsidizes employer-based coverage for some 17,000 working adults, undoubtedly accounts for some, but far from all, of the progress. Whether there was a real burst of increased health insurance coverage at the tail end of Oklahoma’s economic boom, or whether we’re seeing numbers that stretch at the margins of error of any statistical sample, likely can’t be known. However, given the impact of the recession on employment and the burdens imposed by rising health care costs, we can only hope that at least some recent gains can be maintained when next year’s numbers are released.

When the numbers were released, the editorial page of The Oklahoman published a typical snarky criticism of people fighting for “radical health care reform.” (Note the word “radical.”) The editorial, titled “Overblown: Uninsured rate greatly exaggerated,” (September 14, 2009), stated:

The number of uninsured in Oklahoma, like the demise of Obamacare, has been greatly exaggerated. The president’s health care reform package is far from dead, but its absolute necessity for attacking Oklahoma’s uninsured problem is overblown.

Note the inane “Obamacare” reference. This is what passes for journalism these days. It’s also difficult to see the editorial’s reasoning here. Those fighting for reform were simply using numbers provided by the government, just like it was doing, and, come on now, there are apparently still 565,000 people uninsured in Oklahoma. Don’t the newspaper editorial writers even care a little bit? The numbers will always be fluid, which the editorial concedes, but, again, there remain a lot of uninsured people in Oklahoma. There are also major problems, in terms of care and finances, for people with insurance.

The newspaper’s editorial page also published a commentary recently that seemed to relish increased health care costs for teachers and state employees because, well, other people are facing higher costs, too. Let’s all join in together and experience our awful health care system! That’s the premise of this irrational argument.

An editorial titled “Shared sacrifice: Board right to make teachers pay more,” (September 15, 2009), stated:

Any grumbling about a pending increase in health care coverage costs for public employees will mostly fall on deaf ears among the majority of Oklahomans who work in the private sector. In fact, their response is likely to be this: "Welcome to our world.”

The editorial, of course, fails to mention those private sector employees who have much better health insurance than teachers and state employees.

You might think editorial writers at the largest newspaper in the state would have some compassion for Oklahomans facing higher medical costs or for those people without health insurance, but then you would be dead wrong. Welcome to The Oklahoman world.