A4 n n Wednesday, October 2, 2013 ACA FROM A1 Federal oicials pleaded for patience, saying the site had received nearly 3 million visits since midnight Tuesday. “This is Day 1 of a sixmonth process,” said Marilyn Tavenner, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency charged with implementing the law. “We are in a marathon, not a sprint and we need your help.” During a conference call with reporters, Tavenner said consumers had enrolled in health care through the site Tuesday but numbers were not available. The law requires that all Americans have health insurance, unless they fall into an exempt category. Uninsured people have until March 31 to obtain coverage if they want to avoid a ine. Consumers who want coverage to begin Jan. 1 must sign up by Dec. 15. People who receive health insurance through their jobs or a government program such as Medicare are in compliance with the law and don’t need to take any action. Oklahoma is one of 36 states where the federal government will run or help run the exchange, a website where consumers can shop for health insurance. Kevin Bohlander, 29, said he has no insurance and has run up large medical bills going to emergency rooms for help with his seizure disorder. Bohlander said he is very interested in being able to buy coverage through the law. He attended a health fair sponsored by Blue Cross and Johnie Asbury listens to speakers as he follows along with handouts during a public question-and-answer forum/panel discussion about the Afordable Care Act held at the Tulsa Technology Center north campus in Tulsa on Monday. MICHAEL WYKE/Tulsa World Blue Shield of Oklahoma Tuesday and began the enrollment process. “Now that there’s something that they say is going to be afordable, I can have insurance. I can actually have a primary care doctor,” Bohlander said. Oklahoma has about 650,000 uninsured residents, ranking No. 5 nationally in the number of uninsured. The law includes subsidies for people making between $11,490 and $45,960 per year for an individual. Individu- House Bill 3393 timeline May 2010: Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Act, or House Bill 3393, is signed into law. Fall 2010: Broken Arrow, Jenks, Liberty, Tulsa and Union school boards vote not to process the scholarships. January 2011: Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt threatens legal action against those school districts and individual board members if they fail to comply with the law within the week. January 2011: Broken Arrow, Jenks, Liberty and Union school districts announce that they will sue Pruitt over the constitutionality of the law. They also vote to process scholarships under the law until a decision is made on its constitutionality. April 2011: Twenty parents sue Broken Arrow, Jenks, Tulsa and Union school districts in Tulsa federal court, saying their specialneeds children were denied private school scholarships in 2010-11. May 2011: The Legislature passes HB 1744, which transfers responsibility for administering the scholarship program from the districts to the Oklahoma Department of Education. July 2011: In light of that legislation, federal Chief U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan grants the parents a stay so they can pursue administrative remedies through the state Education Department. Eagan invites the school districts to file their challenge of HB 3393’s constitutionality in state court. September 2011: Jenks and Union school districts file a countersuit in state court to challenge the constitutionality of the law on behalf of all school districts. Their suit names the parents of students in each district who participated in the federal lawsuit against the schools. November 2011: The federal lawsuit against the Broken Arrow, Jenks, Tulsa and Union school districts is dismissed at the parents’ request. March 2012: Tulsa County District Judge Rebecca Nightingale strikes down the law, ruling it unconstitutional. June 2012: Attorneys for the parents appeal to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. November 2012: Oklahoma Supreme Court throws out the case, ruling the school districts did not have standing to challenge the constitutionality of the law. October: A group of Oklahomans sue in Oklahoma County District Court to have the Henry law invalidated on the basis that it violates the state constitutional ban on using public funds for private religious institutions. als making close to the poverty level in Oklahoma could qualify for free coverage under some plans. Melissa Parchman, owner of Magoon & Associates agency in Tulsa, said she hopes uninsured people take their time reviewing available plans before making a decision. Consumers should examine issues such as which doctors are in a plan’s network and whether prescriptions have a separate deductible, she said. Parchman called Tuesday’s SUIT technical problems “disappointing but not anything that we should not have anticipated.” “I wish that we would just declare the month of October as an education month,” Parchman said. President Barack Obama said during a televised appearance Tuesday that the new health care program is “open for business.” Obama said the website was running slowly on its irst day because of high demand for what the law ofers. Obama said a government shutdown sparked by Republican opposition to the health care law would not stop enrollment in the plans. The president signed the Patient Protection and Afordable Care Act into law three years ago and it has been upheld by the Supreme Court. Oklahoma insurance companies ofering coverage through the exchange urged patience as the complicated, nationwide system gets underway. “With a new program of The 12 plaintifs FROM A1 religious schools. Only six speciically cater to students with special needs. Last November, the Oklahoma Supreme Court tossed out a challenge of the law by the Union and Jenks school districts, ruling that “school districts are not taxpayers themselves, whom this Court has long recognized have a right to challenge the illegal expenditure of public funds.” The 12 plaintifs in the case iled Tuesday include a state senator, retired and current superintendents, a parent of a child with special needs, college professors and a retired judge. “The plaintifs are all taxpayers in Oklahoma,” said Kirby Lehman, a plaintif and retired Jenks superintendent. “According to the previous written statements by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, they have standing to institute such a lawsuit.” State records show that more than $1.3 million in state public school funds was paid last year to send 220 special-needs students to private schools under the law. The previous year, the state spent $936,000 for 148 students to be sent to private schools. “The Oklahoma Constitution only authorizes the Legislature to fund ‘a system of free public schools wherein all the children of the state may be educated,’ ” the lawsuit says. • Stacy L. Acord, attorney and mother of two children who attend Bristow Public Schools • Retired speech therapist Robert M. Peters, who worked for years for Bartlesville Public Schools • Former Superintendent Randall K. Raburn, professor of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Oklahoma • Melissa Abdo, coordinator of the Tulsa Area Parent Legislative Action Committee and member of the Jenks Public Schools Board of Education • Tim Green, who has 37 years of experience in public education as a superintendent, business manager, teacher and coach • Retired District Judge Gordon R. Melson, who practices law in Ada and Seminole and previously served as district attorney for the 22nd Judicial District. • Clarence G. Oliver Jr., dean emeritus and professor in the College of Education at Oral Roberts University and former Broken Arrow superintendent • State Sen. Earl Garrison, D-Muskogee, former Fort Gibson superintendent • Amy Vargus, former public school teacher and parent of three children — one of whom has special needs • Ponca City Superintendent David K. Pennington, president-elect of the American Association of School Administrators • Rev. Ray Hickman, Presbyterian minister and executive director of the Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry • Former Jenks Superintendent Kirby Lehman and winner of the 2013 Oklahoma Association of School Administrators Lifetime Achievement Award The Oklahoma Supreme Court has already ruled that when a parent wants to send a child to a private secular or religious school, that parent is “faced with the necessity of assuming the inancial burden which the choice entails,” the lawsuit continues. Plaintif Amy Vargus, a former public school teacher and mother of a child with special needs, said, “I just feel like they are using special-needs kids to promote an agenda that has nothing to do with special education.” Because the vouchers don’t pay for the full amount of private-school tuition, only those who can pay the diference can actually use them, she said. “If I choose to send my kid to private school, that’s my choice. I just don’t think it’s fair to ask my neighbor to pay for my kids to go to private school,” Vargus said. Most of the approved private schools aren’t equipped to teach children with special needs, and once those students leave public schools, parents are signing away their children’s federal this magnitude, it is not unexpected to have system glitches initially,” Ashley Hudgeons, a spokeswoman for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, said in an email. The company is one of ive ofering coverage through Oklahoma’s exchange. The others are CommuintyCare, Coventry Health Care, GlobalHealth and Aetna. “As the Marketplace is new for everyone, we expected that and are prepared for the volume of activity to ebb and low during the enrollment period, for any number of reasons. Overall, consumers working with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma are experiencing a relatively smooth process on our website where they can begin the enrollment process, and we are working to manage any disruptions that may occur.” Alison Williams, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Primary Care Association, said “navigators” were busy helping consumers with questions about the law Tuesday. The association received a federal grant to train navigators, specialists who help people enroll in coverage under the law. “We have noticed some issues with the site. It appears to be that way across the country,” Williams said in an email. “So far, we’ve noticed a trend of many consumers using the website irst to get more information, with expectations that questions will signiicantly increase once consumers have had the opportunity to browse online . . . Navigators here today are exclusively focusing on assisting consumers.” Ziva Branstetter 918-581-8306 [email protected] rights to special education services and due process protections, she said. Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City, co-author of the Henry law, said he irst heard about the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon from a parent who was concerned about what will happen to her child now. “This lawsuit comes on the heals of a lawsuit iled by President Obama’s administration against a similar law in Louisiana,” Nelson said. “The opposition here and in the Louisiana case appears to be about an ideological hostility to the rights of parents to direct the education of their children — not about legitimate legal concerns.” He said he looks forward to working with Barresi, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and other supporters to vigorously defend the law. “The plaintifs simply can’t see that this is not about funding institutions but about ensuring children get the best education possible regardless of where they get that education,” Nelson said. Sen. Earl Garrison, DMuskogee, also a plaintif in the case, said he spent 44 years in public education and knows it is essential to democracy. “I believe very strongly in the state constitution and what the state Supreme Court has already ruled, and that is we aren’t to be sending public money into private schools.” Kim Archer 918-581-8315 [email protected] How to Tell When Your Furnace Isn’t Feeling Well... Look or Listen For The Following: I • Flakes of rust • Grinding or chattering sounds • A yellow flame or a dusty smell • Air rushing into the house through the chimney “My Mission at Air Comfort Solutions is to provide 100% Customer Satisfaction, Friendly Service and the Most Qualified Technicians in Oklahoma . . . 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