Mary Fallin: “I'm here today to speak in opposition of H.R. 1424. This bill, although well intended, comes with a long series of…”

“I'm here today to speak in opposition of H.R. 1424. This bill, although well intended, comes with a long series of unintended consequences. And while I fully support the bipartisan efforts to bring parity between mental health and medical benefits and employer-sponsored health care plans, I cannot support this bill as it is currently written. In fact, in my mind, this legislation will diminish care for patients, will increase costs, will restrict access to care, will restrict access to specific hospitals and doctors, along with hurting the financial investments made personally by doctors and specialty hospitals. Oklahoma has one of the highest concentrations of specialty hospitals in the Nation, and I've had the opportunity to visit a large percentage of them. These specialty hospitals offer very good quality care with physicians who are trained specifically in areas of expertise to deliver to their patients. These facilities offer specialties anywhere from hip and bone replacement to gynecology, to cardiology, to heart hospitals, spine hospitals, and they do provide some of the best medical care possible in the whole Nation.”