PREVENTION OF DISEASE The Chamber recognizes the detrimental impact of chronic and communicable diseases (including substance use disorder) on the quality of life for Oklahoma’s residents and the severe economic costs they impose on health care providers and employers. Therefore, the Chamber will support efforts by the state’s elected officials, medical research and public health communities to develop avenues to successfully prevent and combat congenital, chronic, pandemic and communicable diseases. CLEAN INDOOR AIR The Chamber supports legislation to make all indoor areas smoke free as well as legislation to remove smokers, on a non- medical basis, as a protected class in state employment law.
EMPLOYER-DRIVEN MARKET REFORMS The Chamber believes that employers drive innovation in health benefits and supports market-driven health reforms as the best approach to reducing costs while promoting market stability, efficiency, wellness and quality of care. MEDICAID CUTS The Chamber opposes Medicaid cuts that would place increased pressure on reimbursement rates, negatively impact the adequate delivery of critical services to the most vulnerable, exacerbate an already high administrative burden for health care businesses and shift the increased burden of uncompensated care to employers and health care providers. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT The Chamber supports efforts to foster a federal policy environment that is conducive to further research and will oppose efforts to unreasonably restrict the continued development of national bioscience and research programs. PANDEMIC AND ALL HAZARDS PREPAREDNESS ACT (PAHPA) The Chamber will support reauthorization of PAHPA (2006) to comprehensively improve the Nation’s public health and medical preparedness and response capabilities for emergencies, whether deliberate, accidental, or natural. PUBLIC HEALTH GRANTS The Chamber will advocate for federal public health grant dollars to be allocated directly to local city-county health departments. TRIBAL AND RURAL HEALTH CARE/JOINT VENTURE CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM The Chamber will protect and enhance federal support for tribal and rural health care including, but not limited to, the Joint Venture Construction Program which is a premiere example of federal-tribal partnership to ensure availability of first-class tribal health care infrastructure.
FEDERAL ISSUES
FEDERAL FUNDING FOR RESEARCH AND HEALTH/LIFE SCIENCE INFRASTRUCTURE: The Chamber supports protecting and increasing funding for life science and health care infrastructure and programs including, but not limited to: the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) This includes: • Protecting the NIH/Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program which has been instrumental in building health research infrastructure in Oklahoma. • Ensuring that NIH continues to provide adequate funds for reimbursement of facilities and administration costs. • Continuing to fund Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs essential for early-stage product and research development. • Enhance connectivity with industry to jointly apply for federal funds supporting healthcare and life science infrastructure and programmatic funding. • Related Farm Bill programs. SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE The Chamber supports improving health care quality, access and affordability without imposing new mandates and/or taxes on businesses or removing employer choice. Therefore, the Chamber opposes a single-payer government-run/public option or health care system with excessive government mandates.
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