A. The Legislature recognizes that the state is a major purchaser of health care services, and the increasing costs of such health care services are posing and will continue to pose a great financial burden on the state. It is the policy of the state to provide comprehensive health care as an employer to state employees and officials and their dependents and to those who are dependent on the state for necessary medical care. It is imperative that the state develop effective and efficient health care delivery systems and strategies for procuring health care services in order for the state to continue to purchase the most comprehensive health care possible.
B. It is therefore incumbent upon the Legislature to establish the Oklahoma Health Care Authority whose purpose shall be to:
1. Purchase state and education employees' health care benefits and Medicaid benefits;
2. Study all state-purchased and state-subsidized health care, alternative health care delivery systems and strategies for the procurement of health care services in order to maximize cost containment in these programs while ensuring access to quality health care; and
3. Make recommendations aimed at minimizing the financial burden which health care poses for the state, its employees and its charges, while at the same time allowing the state to provide the most comprehensive health care possible.
Added by Laws 1993, c. 332, § 1.