Governor Brad Henry is calling on the Legislature to expand a program to help small businesses provide health insurance for their employees. The program called "Insure Oklahoma" helps eligible small businesses - with 50 or fewer employees - provide health insurance for their workers. Funded by the governor's tobacco tax, the tax has fallen short of projections since its inception. Currently, the premium assistance program limits eligibility to employees earning no more than 185 percent of the federal poverty level. (about $37,000 a year.) The Governor wants to extend that limit to 200 percent of the poverty line, (about $40,000 a year) the maximum allowed by the federal government. According to Henry, the expansion would enable as many as 118,000 more Oklahomans to be eligible for the program Under the program, the state pays 60 percent of the cost of health insurance premiums for the workers, while the business pays 25 percent and the employee pays the remaining 15 percent. “One in five Oklahomans has no health insurance, and the implications of that are far-reaching and serious,” Gov. Henry said. “Uninsured citizens end up in our emergency rooms, with hospitals and insurance companies passing those costs on to those who have insurance.” House Speaker Lance Cargill and Senate Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee cautioned Governor Henry about his proposal to expand an insurance program that has so far failed to meet expectations. According to a Jan. 9 article in The Oklahoman, the governor's insurance program only had 1,394 enrollees in 72 of the state's 77 counties as of December. "While we look forward to seeing more details of the governor's proposal, unfortunately his insurance program has not met expectations," said Cargill (R-Harrah). "I have real concerns about investing more of the taxpayers' money in a program that has been oversold and has under-delivered. While we must help the children of this state, particularly with the affordability and availability of health care, I think we should take a cautious approach and focus our efforts where they'll make a difference." Added Senate Co-President Pro Tempore Glenn Coffee, "We're willing to study his proposal, but the governor should be very cautious about expanding government programs in what could be a tight budget year. We need to be looking at more market-based solutions that can reduce costs while increasing access to quality care." Posted at 1/23/2007 05:27:00 PM