Health

(The Daily Oklahoman, especially its top editor Ed Kelley, rants about Oklahoma's image issues, but its ultra-conservative editorial ideology continues to support freaky local politicians such as state Rep. Sally Kern (R-Oklahoma City), who is part of the gay-hating state Republican cabal that includes U.S. Senators Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe. Here is a News 9 story about the legislator's most recent anti-gay remarks. Here is the audio file making its way around the Internet.)

Legislation dealing with health insurance mandates has emerged as a contentious political issue this year in Oklahoma.

So far those corporations who make profits on people’s pain and misery are the clear winners. The losers are people who find themselves in steep debt because of illnesses or find themselves without adequate health care or find themselves paying skyrocketing premiums.

The Oklahoma Senate failed to pass a measure Thursday that would require insurers to pay for medical care determined by health care professionals and also require them to cover medical costs related to autism, according to media reports. The Senate voted 24-19 to approve SB 2114, sponsored by Jim Wilson (D-Tahlequah), but the bill needed 25 votes to pass. The bill may be reconsidered later.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma House, in a 53-46 vote, has passed a measure that would place some restrictions on health insurance mandates. It requires groups seeking health insurance mandates to provide reports on their financial and social impact, according to media reports. It also requires that “mandate legislation be filed only in odd-numbered years and voted on only in even-numbered years.” This would make passing such legislation cumbersome and difficult. The bill was authored by state Rep. Ron Peterson (R-Broken Arrow), who is against health insurance mandates.

Here is the real issue: Our health care system in this country is broken. People pay rising health insurance costs only to find out that in some cases their illness is not covered. Insurance companies and cost management companies deliberately work to find ways to deny sick people coverage. This corporate lack of basic humanity, this moral depravity, is notorious on a huge historical level, and Americans suffer every day because of it.

This election year, Democrats are leading the way with state legislation and proposals dealing with health care. Wilson’s bill is a step forward. State Sens. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City) and Jay Paul Gumm (D-Durant) are also trying to get health insurance mandate legislation passed.

Both Democratic presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, have also made health care a major issue in their campaigns. The Republicans, meanwhile, are stuck in the past, parroting their old clichés and scare tactics about the dangers of universal health care and supporting a system that rewards the greedy and punishes the sick.

Our country’s citizens pay the most in health care and get the least for it when compared to other industrialized countries. Most European countries have public health care systems that work much better than our nation’s profit-centered system. Both occupied Iraq and Afghanistan have expanding health care systems funded by America’s taxpayers. Meanwhile, millions of Americans go without adequate health care.

The time has come for major change in our health care system. Health insurance and cost management companies will never become more responsive to people’s needs in the future without new laws and mandates. They will only become less responsive and charge more unless people finally stand up and demand change.

Legislation Helps Autistic Children

State legislators should pass Nick’s Law, which would require health insurance companies provide coverage for people with autism.

State Rep. Jay Paul Gumm (D-Durant), pictured right, has attached the legislation to different Senate bills as amendments, according to media reports. Those bills are expected to be voted on this week. State Sen. Patrick Anderson (R-Enid) and state Rep. Colby Schwartz (R-El Reno) are also sponsors of the legislation.

“Research shows us that early intervention is the key giving these children the best chance of fulfilling their God-given potential,” Gumm said on the state Senate Web site. “Health insurance exists for challenges like this. No insured family should ever have to doubt whether they will get the help they expected when they bought insurance.”

The law is named after Nick Rhode, the 10-year-old son of Wayne Rhode, who has been pushing the legislation in recent weeks.

Another bill pending in the state Senate, Steffanie’s Law, which is sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City), would require health insurance companies to cover routine care costs during clinical trial treatments. It was recently approved by a Senate committee. This bill also deserves support.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma House recently voted 53-46 in favor of a bill that places certain restrictions on health insurance mandates. This could lead to a showdown in the House if either bill is passed by the Senate.

Rice Veterans' Bill Passes Senate

A bill that would help uninsured veterans was passed in a 45-1 vote Monday by the Oklahoma Senate. The bill is sponsored by Rice, who continues to push for health care reform.

Under Rice’s bill, veterans would pay health insurance premiums and co-payments based on household income under a program administered by the state. The program would start July 1, 2009.

“For those who believe that our state cannot afford to help our uninsured veterans, I ask them to examine the unfairness in their belief,” Rice said. “I don’t think any of these veterans, when they were ordered into battle, looked at their commander and said: ‘how much is it going to cost me?’.”

The bill now goes to the House for consideration.

Why?

Oklahoma has always ranked high in depression and overall mental illness rates compared to other states, and yet another study confirms it.

A report by Mental Health America shows the state is in the bottom ten, or 46th, of all states and the District of Columbia when it comes to depression. (The lower number means high rates of depression.) The report bases its conclusions on, among other things, suicide rates and depression treatment.

This is yet another negative report about Oklahoma that, well, is somewhat depressing. As I have argued in the past, the state suffers from a severe case of “reportitis” when it comes to negative comparisons with other states. Oklahoma constantly ranks law in health and social categories. I have also argued the state leadership—despite possessing an understandable case of report burnout—needs to take these types of reports seriously if they hope to improve the quality of life here.

Depression, as the report argues, leads to other physical illnesses, such as heart disease. It is related to poverty and low productivity levels in the workplaces. It leads to substance abuse.

So the question is simply this: Why are Oklahomans more depressed than people in most other states? Let me offer some standard and not so standard answers to this question.

(1) Oklahoma does not screen well for depression. This is primarily because many Oklahomans, as other studies suggest, do not have adequate access to health care. If a person does not have an ongoing relationship with a primary care physician, her/his chances of receiving treatment for depression obviously decreases.

(2) The state has high rates of uninsured people. For many people, receiving treatment for depression is a luxury they simply cannot afford.

(3) Religious fundamentalism here promotes the oppression of feelings and emotions if they do not fit into the set script. Creative people, in particular, face the dilemma of constantly working against the oppressive ideology of extremists.

(4) Low salaries and incomes here create poverty and this leads to depression. Sure, Oklahoma has a low cost of living, but it also means many people cannot travel to places that are more expensive. This leads to a feeling of being “trapped,” of living in isolation.

(5) Bleak prairie landscapes—in some sections of the state—and dilapidated buildings and unkempt streets in rural towns and inner cities create a backdrop of ugliness that can harm the psyche. Along these same lines, the state’s erratic and often disastrous weather, documented by other reports, also creates personal hardship and anxiety.

(6) Oklahoma, as a whole, suffers from an image problem. The state is now known as a place that sanctions the ignorance of religious extremism, inadequate funding for education, and intolerance of alternative lifestyles and ethnic groups. The psychological residue of this outside image problem becomes ingrained in Oklahomans at an early age. Some people adopt a façade of false pride, but others develop major self-esteem problems, which can lead to severe depression.

There are solutions for all this, with the exception of weather disasters, of course, but nothing will happen until the state leadership takes the issue seriously.

God Speaks To Richard

Speaking of oppressing religious fundamentalism, the craziness continues at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa. Richard Roberts, who recently resigned as ORU president, is claming God told him to resign his position when allegations surfaced he misspent university money. He says it is a prophecy fulfilled.

Roberts comments made national news, of course, and once again the state seems like the loony land of wacky religious kooks.

Meanwhile, Mart Green, owner of the Christian office supply chain, Mardel, and Hobby Lobby, says he and his family are willing to throw $70 million into the ORU mess, according to The Daily Oklahoman, if the university “changes the way it did its business.”