From The Oklahoma Daily:

Oklahoma County Democrats urged passage of healthcare reform legislation Thursday at the Capitol, stating healthcare should be available and affordable for every citizen.

Top quality hospitals, doctors and health professionals already exist in Oklahoma, but the goal of legislation is to make that care available to everyone, said Katherine Scheirman, American College of Physicians fellow and regional director of Doctors for America. She said 20 percent of Oklahoma’s 5th District citizens are without health coverage.

“The proposals on the table for healthcare reform are common sense, mainstream ideas for making healthcare more affordable and available,” Scheirman said. “You rarely hear these proposals actually talked about, because they are so reasonable that it is hard to argue with them.”

Read the rest.

From The Dallas Morning News:

Truckers traveling along Interstate 20 through Dallas come February can receive medical care at a roadside clinic.

The Brough Group International, a Houston-based physician-staffing and investment company, signed a contract Wednesday worth more than $165,000, to open 11 clinics at truck stops in Texas and Oklahoma.

The nation’s 3.4 million truck drivers – some arriving today for an annual truck show at the Dallas Convention Center – often forgo routine doctor visits to pick up and drop off their next load.

Read the rest.

• McCarville Report: Boren challenge a non-starter?
• Okie Funk: Did Coburn condone violent rhetoric?
• Oklahoma Women’s Network: 8 ways health reform will provide you security/stability
• Fresh Greens: Sun oven saves the day!
• A Downtown on the Range: My 4-page plea to the city council
• Roemerman on Record: Tulsa is not a business
• OK Policy Blog: State prison population growth slows

From The Journal Record:

Oklahoma’s new abortion law violates a constitutional provision prohibiting multiple-subject legislation, Oklahoma County District Judge Vicki Robertson held Tuesday.

Robertson granted a partial summary judgment in favor of the challengers of the law, Nova Health Systems, also granting a permanent injunction against the law’s enforcement.

Special Assistant Attorney General Teresa Collett said she would need to visit with her clients, which include several state officials, before deciding whether to appeal Robertson’s decision.

Read the rest.

From NewsOK:

The Oklahoma Public Employees Association is asking a judge to decide if efforts to privatize operations at the Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman fall within the state law.

The employees association said this afternoon during a news conference that the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services failed to follow state law when it entered into a contract with Red Rock to manage and operate a unit of the hospital.

Read the rest.

From The Journal Record:

The Journal Record published an article about Insure Oklahoma as an approach to reform. While the model could be a feasible approach, the cost is not. The program, funded by tobacco taxes, insures only 15,000 people. To be able to grow, more funding is critical and there are few sources. Finding additional revenue sources is like finding a needle in a haystack.

The state has a shortfall of more than $900 million, with more deficits predicted for the next year. Calculated simply at the price tag of $33 million for insuring 15,000 people, it would cost more than $1.3 billion annually and 20 percent of the state’s budget to cover 600,000 uninsured Oklahoman. Kim Holland is tireless, but Insure Oklahoma seems too costly to be feasible. A federal plan may be the only option.

Read the rest.