State Sen. Patrick Anderson urged Oklahoma’s chief executive to join her fellow Republican governors across the country and state for the record that she will not implement ObamaCare. Anderson, a Republican from Enid, said Gov. Mary Fallin needs to be on the front line with those governors who have already announced they won’t submit to the federal health care law.
“Bobby Jindal in Louisiana, Chris Christie in New Jersey, Rick Perry in Texas, Scott Walker in Wisconsin, Rick Scott in Florida and Nikki Haley in South Carolina have officially stated they will not implement ObamaCare in their states in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last Thursday,” said Anderson. “Oklahoma needs to join these other states and be a leader, not a follower, in the opposition to this law and the substantial burden that it will place on taxpayers.”
Anderson said despite promises from the President, the end results of the federal health care law would be disastrous for citizens, for Oklahoma and for the nation, with many reports pointing to a revised estimate by the Congressional Budget Office saying the price tag for the law had already risen from under $1 trillion to $1.76 trillion.
“In the short-term, the economic brunt will fall on the middle-class. Those who already have insurance will see their out-of-pocket costs skyrocket, while those who don’t will be forced to purchase policies far more costly than they would have been without this federal mandate,” Anderson said. “Businesses are going to be hamstrung by red tape and regulations that will derail economic growth and recovery. At the federal level, this will dramatically worsen our national debt. At the state level, Oklahoma’s Medicaid costs will soar and it will force budget cuts in education, transportation and public safety.”
“We have had enough time to consider last Thursday’s ruling, and we know that the end result will be larger deficits, greater costs to working Oklahomans, and punitive regulations that will cripple many businesses,” said Anderson. “Governor Fallin needs to make Oklahoma’s position clear and tell President Obama that she will not choose to implement this new tax on the taxpayers of Oklahoma.”