WELLNESS INITIATIVES The Chamber supports the following state and local initiatives including wellness, disease prevention and care programs that serve to improve the physical, behavioral and mental health of Oklahoma citizens: tobacco prevention programs; efforts to mitigate the harmful health effects of e-cigarettes/vaping; public outreach initiatives; efforts to address health disparities; and workplace and school-based wellness, health education and healthy eating programs. 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 and medical and research 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. FEDERAL ISSUES SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE The Chamber supports improving health care quality, access and affordability without imposing new mandates and/or taxes on business. Therefore, the Chamber opposes a single-payer government-run/public option or health care system with excessive government mandates.
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 increase the burden of uncompensated care shifted 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.
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