Rice Introduces Steffanie’s Law

With all the corruption charges and cultural wedge issues flying around in Oklahoma politics these days, it is always nice to note when a state politician is actually working on a real issue to help people.

State Sen. Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City) continues to lead on health care issues in the legislature.

Rice, who is also running against U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe this year, has introduced a bill called “Steffanie’s Law,” which would require insurance companies to cover routine medical costs for patients participating in clinical trials.

The bill is named after Steffanie Collings, a young Noble woman who recently received extensive surgery for a brain tumor. Her family’s health insurance company balked at paying for the procedure, which they considered to be a clinical trial. Now Steffanie, 18, and her family have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.

According to a news report, the bill is similar to legislation already passed in 23 other states. The bill is co-sponsored by state Sen. John Sparks (D- Norman). The House author is Kris Steele (R-Shawnee).

Jim Stafford, in an insightful piece for The Daily Oklahoman, quotes Rice:

"We think it's unfortunate that we've got this new medical research that we're all excited about and behind and offer up to our citizens, and then the insurance carriers won't cover it. It's an important issue.

"I think we're finding that frustrations on insurance coverage for people who have private insurance is something that cuts across income lines and political affiliations. We just want it to get a fair hearing."