Bill advised the health department to implement a private insurance plan
County health departments will be able to apply the private insurance plans for services such as vaccines after the bill passed the state Legislature this session. This will make it easier to balance the cost of the services offered to people who are less able to pay for them, said Mark Newman. He is director of the state and federal policy for the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
“This is a step to restore funding for these services without charging fees or taxes,” he said.
Tulsa City-County Health Department officials will not know for sure how much money the measure could bring, said too many details yet to determine. Newman said that the state Department of Health to make sure, not including Tulsa and Oklahoma City departments, districts will get about $ 550,000 a year altogether. That money will certainly run back into the service but not used, he said.
Health departments should be able to run the initial surgery bill private insurance companies by the end of 2012. This will require at least a year to enhance the necessary infrastructure, said Priscilla Haynes. He is a division of public health managers to Tulsa City-County Health Department. “This is really going to be something new for all of Oklahoma,” he said. Previously, the health department just manages Medicare and Medicaid, he said.
The services will be discussed include immunization, research for sexually transmitted diseases, physical examination and a pregnancy test. For patients who do not have insurance, the service will continue to curse suggested a sliding scale fee. Newman said that the health department did not try to compete with physician offices. They only paid for their services by people, he said.