1. A. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority is authorized to seek waivers and/or other federal authorizations to create a statewide program to provide for a more efficient and effective service delivery system that enhances quality of care and client outcomes in the Oklahoma Medicaid Program.
2. B. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority shall develop and submit for approval, applications for waivers of applicable federal laws and regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of the Oklahoma Medicaid Reform Act of 2006. Copies of all waivers submitted to and approved by the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under this section shall be provided to the Legislature within ten (10) days of their approval. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority shall submit a plan containing a recommended timeline for implementation of any waivers and budgetary projections of the effect of the Oklahoma Medicaid Reform Act of 2006. This implementation plan shall be submitted to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
3. C. By July 1, 2008, phase one of this act shall be implemented within a contiguous area of the state with rural and urban characteristics. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority shall contract for an independent evaluation and report findings of this phase of the act to the Governor and the Legislature. After an independent evaluation and report to the Governor and Legislature, if it is determined that the evaluation establishes improved access to health care, improved health care outcomes, and improved cost efficiencies, it is the intent of the Legislature that components of the act be phased in statewide by the year 2013.
4. D. Upon this evaluation and determination of improvement by the Governor and Legislature, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority shall negotiate a plan for statewide expansion of the act from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

5. E. The purpose of the Oklahoma Medicaid Reform Act of 2006 is to:

   1. 1. Provide Medicaid consumers who are younger than sixty-five (65) years of age and considered insurable more options in the selection of a health care plan that meets the needs of consumers and allows consumers to exercise greater control over the medical care that consumers receive. For purposes of this section "insurable" means that the cost of enrolling an individual in a private plan is equal to or less than the cost to the state of the individual remaining in the current Medicaid program;

   2. 2. Stabilize Medicaid expenditures in the act areas compared to Medicaid expenditures in the test areas for the three (3) years preceding implementation of the act, while ensuring:

      1. a. consumer education and choice,
      2. b. access to medically necessary services,
      3. c. coordination of preventative, acute, and long-term care services, and
      4. d. reductions in unnecessary service utilization;
   3. 3. Provide an opportunity to evaluate the progress of statewide implementation of the Oklahoma Medicaid Reform Act of 2006 as a replacement for the current Medicaid system; and
   4. 4. Introduce competition as a factor that lowers the cost of the act.

Added by Laws 2006, HB 2842, c. 315, § 2, emerg. eff. June 9, 2006.