Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Refuses to Enforce Affordable Care Act

The Oklahoma Insurance Department will not be participating in a collaborative effort with the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) to enforce the Affordable Care Act, according to a letter released by Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak.

“It is unfortunate that health insurers are being forced into a system of dual regulation by the overreaching Obama administration,” Doak said. “My position on this has never wavered and I welcome every opportunity to try to overturn Obamacare.”

The letter was sent to CCIIO Deputy Administrator and Director Gary Cohen indicating that the Oklahoma Insurance Department does not have the authority to enforce federal law. In the letter, Doak wrote, “I execute my duties collaboratively with the governor and legislature of Oklahoma to meet the needs of the citizens we represent and the requirements of the Insurance Code of the Oklahoma Statutes.”

Doak said the department would “continue to serve these consumers by adhering to our duties under the State Constitution and Statutes. The consumers are the ones who are going to bear the costs of these unnecessary federal regulatory burdens.”

In addition to adding new fees to health insurance products increasing prices both inside and outside the exchange, the ACA requires plans to add expensive and often unnecessary coverage coverage benefits. These costs will impact young adults most severely due to the law’s requirement that older Americans pay no more than three times the premium of young adults. A survey of insurers by the American Action Forum found that average premiums for young healthy adults may triple going into 2014.

Source: Oklahoma Insurance Department

Topics Oklahoma