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Source: Tulsa World, Okla.迷你倉Sept. 06--Federal officials have given Oklahoma a one-year extension of the popular Insure Oklahoma program, extending coverage to a group of the poorest residents in jeopardy of losing health care on Dec. 31.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has approved a one-year extension of Insure Oklahoma, officials told the Tulsa World on Friday.Gov. Mary Fallin discussed the extension during a 10:30 a.m. press conference, saying the agreement "is a big win for Oklahoma and the tens of thousands of adults and children who currently buy health insurance through Insure Oklahoma.""These Oklahomans and their families can now rest easy knowing that they won't lose their insurance on Jan. 1," she said.Insure Oklahoma subsidizes private health insurance for nearly 30,000 low-income workers. It was created in 2005 after state voters approved an increase in tobacco taxes to fund health-care improvements.The program uses $50 million a year in state tobacco tax revenue, federal Medicaid money and employer contributions to subsidize private health insurance. It covers low-income individuals and employees whose employers take part in the program.The Obama administration told Oklahoma this spring it would not renew the Medicaid waiver authorizing federal funds in the program because Insure Oklahoma did not meet requirements of the Affordable Care Act.The Department of Health and Human Services objected to the cap on the number of Insure Oklahoma participants. Without a waiver extension, Insure Oklahoma was to expire at the end of the year.Because Fallin rejected an expansion of Medicaid that accompanied the Affordable Care Act, thousands of the poorest Oklahomans -- those making about $12,000 a year or less -- would have been ineligible for subsidies to purchase insurance under the new law.Insure Oklahoma currently covers individuals and employees at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, just under $24,000 per year. Income requirements for those covered by Insure Oklahoma through their employers will not change under the extended program.The extension allows people with incomes between 100 and 200 percent of the poverty level to be covered through the Affordable Care Act. The law allows individuals to shop for coverage through insurance "exchanges," websites where consumers can compare costs and details of vari儲存倉us plans.Under this agreement, however, the state will not be able to recoup as much money in federal reimbursement as states that accepted the Medicaid expansion. A Supreme Court decision that upheld the Affordable Care Act made acceptance of the Medicaid expansion voluntary.A report by the nonprofit Urban Institute found in the 25 states that rejected the Medicaid expansion, nearly 7 million adults under age 65 will be ineligible for coverage.Medicaid is a program in which states and the federal government provide health care for children, people with disabilities and pregnant women. Most adults who do not fall into those categories do not qualify for the program and the expansion was intended to cover them in all 50 states.Federal officials are not giving up hope that Fallin will change her mind and accept the expanded Medicaid funds.Emma Sandoe, a spokeswoman for Health and Human Services, said in an email to the Tulsa World: "We look forward to working with Oklahoma and all other states in bringing a flexible, state-based approach to Medicaid coverage expansion and encourage the state to explore these options."We encourage all states to adopt the Medicaid funding made possible by the Affordable Care Act, which provides 100 percent federal funding for three years and never falls below 90 percent federal funding for people newly eligible for Medicaid," Sandoe said.Fallin has said accepting the expansion would cost the state too much and that federal officials could change terms of the expansion in the future.Democratic lawmakers had urged Fallin to consider legislation dealing with Insure Oklahoma during a special session that began this week. Fallin said she would not expand the session to deal with subjects other than tort reform.Oklahoma has nearly 700,000 uninsured residents, ranking behind only four other states in number of uninsured. Enrollment under the Affordable Care Act is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 and continue for six months. Coverage is to start Jan. 1.Under the law's "individual mandate," Americans are required to have insurance or pay a fine, unless they fall into several narrow exempt categories. The fine for individuals is $95 the first year and escalates to $695 in 2016.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉價錢