OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A state lawmaker who has blocked legislation that would
require health insurers to cover a variety of medical procedures and conditions
has accepted thousands of dollars in donations from individuals or political
action committees with ties to the insurance industry, records show.
Rep. Ron Peterson, chairman of the House Economic Development and Financial
Services Committee, has received a total of $64,600 in election campaign
contributions since Jan. 1, 2007, according to records filed with the Oklahoma
Ethics Commission. Of the total, $20,075 came from people or PACs with ties to
the insurance industry.
Peterson, R-Broken Arrow, is the former owner of a property and casualty
insurance agency and his wife is a part-time independent insurance agent.
Peterson said the campaign contributions and his close ties to the industry have
not influenced his position on insurance mandate legislation.
"They can say I'm the devil and I've been bought off. It's absolutely not
true," Peterson said. Peterson said he opposes insurance mandates and believes
they drive up the cost of health insurance, making it unaffordable for many
Oklahomans.
He said his opinion is based on studies performed by health insurers who
have assessed the cost of mandates on their policies.
"When you pass a mandate, it costs money. I know what I know," he said.
"Once you believe the Earth is round, it's hard to go back. I cannot say the
world is flat anymore."
Peterson has been criticized by supporters of mandate bills that received
bipartisan support in the Senate but died in Peterson's committee.
One of the measures would require health insurers to cover behavioral and
other treatments for autistic children. This sort of coverage is provided in a
number of other states, including Texas.
After dying in Peterson's committee, it was resurrected in the Senate and
sent back to the House, where supporters said it would pass if given a hearing
on the House floor.
But House Speaker Chris Benge has said he does not plan to schedule a vote
on the legislation, effectively killing it.
Wayne Rohde of Edmond, whose 10-year-old son, Nick Rohde, suffers from
autism, said he believes Peterson's close ties to the industry influenced his
judgment on the bill.
"That's what he was doing for a living," Rohde said.
Rohde said no insurance mandate legislation has been seriously considered in
the House since Peterson has chaired the committee, the clearinghouse for all
insurance-related measures.
"I don't have a problem with people seeking political contributions. The
problem I have is when it blurs the vision of these legislators," Rohde said.
"Don't let it blur your leadership and what you were sent to do by the voters.
He's not responding to voters any more."
Rohde said that not requiring health insurers to cover the diagnosis and
treatment of autistic children will eventually place the burden of caring for
them on taxpayers.
"They're the ones who are going to pick up the bill and it's going to be
huge," he said. "We are going to bankrupt this state if we don't allow health
care to be taken care of in the private sector."
Peterson rejected allegations that he is "the industry's boy."
"I understand that's what they're saying," he said. "I think that's a false
argument."
Campaign records show that since January 2007, Peterson raised the most
money from insurance-related contributors during the first three months of 2008,
a period that included the start of the 2008 Oklahoma Legislature.
He received $6,000 from political action committees linked to the industry,
along with another $2,325 from lobbyists or individuals directly tied to the
insurance industry.
Insurance-linked PACs that contributed to Peterson's election campaign fund,
according to campaign finance records, include the Hartford Advocates Fund, a
PAC linked to The Hartford Financial Services Group, one of the nation's largest
investment and insurance companies, which donated $1,000.
Other donations came from the Oklahoma Association of Insurance Agents,
$500; Property Casualty Insurers PAC, $1,000; Farmers Employee & Agent PAC,
$1,000; and Blue Cross Employees PAC, $1,500.
Peterson was criticized after he and other Republican lawmakers attended a
fundraiser at the Dallas home of a Texas businessman linked to convicted former
Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher.
Gene Phillips hosted the fundraiser in December for former Republican
presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the Republican former governor of
Arkansas. Peterson also received a $4,000 campaign contribution from Phillips'
son, Bradford Phillips, which he gave back.
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