Oklahoma rejects $54.6 million federal grant

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NewsOK:


Oklahoma will not accept a $54.6 million federal grant for setting up a system where Oklahomans could shop for health insurance, Gov. Mary Fallin said today.


Oklahoma rejects $54.6 million federal grant

Fallin said the state instead will use state and private money to form the system. She had no estimate of how much it would cost, but House Speaker Kris Steele said today that he believes a system can be developed for an amount less than the federal grant.

The state is facing a $500 million shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year. Steele said legislative budget leaders and the governor's office will have to determine where the state will get the money to pay for developing the exchange.

The Republican governor and Steele, R-Shawnee, had supported using the money from Democratic President Barack Obama's administration to pay for the effort, upsetting many Republicans and conservatives in the state who had gone to the polls months earlier to vote for opting out of the federal health care law.

Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, originally agreed to accepting the federal money, but he came out against the idea two weeks ago.