Oklahoma’s Delegation Reacts to Health Care Ruling

Republican members of Oklahoma’s congressional delegation are decrying the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the federal health care law.

U.S. Rep Tom Cole says the court has spoken — and it’s up to voters to make their voices heard in the November presidential election. Rep. John Sullivan, who was defeated in the state’s June 26 primary, says the ruling could “forever change” the relationship between the federal government and its citizens.

Sen. Jim Inhofe says he’ll work to repeal the measure, while a spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn called the law an “obscene abuse of individual liberty.”

The delegation’s lone Democrat, U.S. Rep. Dan Boren, says there are pieces of the health care law on which many Oklahomans agree, citing the provision that requires insurance companies to cover patients with pre-existing conditions.

About 624,480 Oklahoma residents are uninsured, or about 17 percent of the state’s population.

Oklahoma state lawmakers first rejected $54 million in federal funding to create an online health insurance marketplace and then decided to take no action on developing the exchange, deciding instead to wait on the court’s ruling.