Oklahoma House of Representatives

Media Division

November 19, 2012

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: State Rep. Joe Dorman

Mobile Phone: (405) 833-1117

E-mail: Joe.Dorman@okhouse.gov

 

Dorman Statement on Governor’s Decision to Reject Exchange

 

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Joe Dorman released the following statement today in response to the announcement by Gov. Mary Fallin that Oklahoma would not begin the implementation of an insurance exchange as required under the law.

 

“I believe that by failing to act on the implementation of a state-run health care exchange, we are removing ourselves from a process that is going to affect Oklahomans. I am disappointed in Governor Fallin’s decision to take no action at all to maintain local control over certain aspects of this federally-mandated law. I also believe that while many Oklahomans rejected the federal health care law, including myself when we were called to vote on fighting it for the original court battle, we cannot legally block it or nullify it because the United States Supreme Court has already ruled it constitutional. We also cannot start some kind of costly Don Quixote-style crusade against this when we know it will not be overturned by Congress just so some state politicians can look tough with political posturing, while costing us many more millions of taxpayer dollars. We need to maintain as much local control as possible with the health care law at the state level and leave the battle for changes in this law at the federal level as the “fiscal cliff” looms,” said Dorman, D-Rush Springs.

 

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