Nick

Nick

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

House Bill 3111 passes committee

Our Opposition - Obviously Rep. Ron Peterson does not get it!
Panel to look at plan mandates. A proposal to take a closer look at mandates in an attempt to reduce the price of health insurance has received the support of a House committee.

A health insurance mandate is a requirement that an insurance company or health plan offer certain benefits.

Mandated benefits and coverage in health insurance plans can increase the cost of basic health coverage by 20 percent to more than 50 percent, according to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance.

House Bill 3111, by Rep. Ron Peterson, R-Broken Arrow, would require a cost-benefit analysis and one-year wait before any insurance mandate proposal can receive a vote in the Legislature. It received the House Economic Development and Financial Services Committee's approval last week.

Many insurance mandates have been enacted in recent years, and they have contributed to the rapid rise in the cost of health care, Peterson said. Under the bill's provisions, insurance mandates could only be filed during odd-numbered years and would only receive a vote from lawmakers in even-numbered years.

An estimated 700,000 people in Oklahoma are uninsured.

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