New Oklahoma Insurance Plan
Oklahoma, Cleveland and Canadian county residents will soon have access to a new insurance policy combining traditional health coverage and access to direct primary care.
Taro Health is a New York health insurance company offering services through Maine’s Affordable Care Act Marketplace. Now, it’s expanding to Oklahoma by partnering with over 40 local direct primary care providers.
Direct primary care is a model where patients pay their physician or practice directly through monthly or annual fees beyond their insurance. This gives patients more time with and access to physicians to prevent unnecessary urgent care and emergency room visits.
Taro Health co-founder Jeff Yuan said his company is working to simplify this model by offering insurance through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace paired with free and unlimited access to virtual or in-person direct primary care and mental health visits.
“People can still have this wonderful relationship-based, high-access primary care experience, paired with the comforts of knowing that you're covered for what insurance is built for: access to specialists, hospitals and emergency care,” Yuan said.
The plan is open to people who don’t receive coverage from an employer or other source, including those who are self-employed or work at small businesses. Additional benefits include same- or next-day provider access, an ability to communicate with providers via text and longer appointment times.
Yuan said Taro Health’s prices are middle of the market, and Oklahomans may qualify for a federal subsidy that significantly reduces their premium.
Taro Health is coming as an estimated hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans are losing their access to SoonerCare. In March 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services temporarily waived certain Medicaid requirements to allow people to continue their coverage through the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, states are required to resume eligibility reviews and disenroll members who are no longer eligible.
Kyle Rickner, the founder of Primary Health Partners, said he hopes the partnership with Taro will give more Oklahomans access to an affordable health insurance option with direct primary care at its core.
“We're excited to bring the direct primary care model with primary health partners to Oklahomans that otherwise would not always have access to it,” Rickner said.
Oklahomans can sign up for Taro Health on its website or through the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. Open enrollment is from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15.
OKC Animal Shelter Reopening
Oklahoma City’s Animal Shelter is reopening after a 47-day closure.
This weekend, more than 200 dogs will be available for adoption at the facility and all fees will be waived. The facility will start intaking new animals again on Monday.
The shelter was forced to close due to a canine influenza outbreak that began in March. Hundreds of dogs were infected and five died from the disease. The shelter is well over capacity.
“Closing was necessary to save the lives of the hundreds of dogs in the shelter,” Animal Shelter Superintendent Jon Gary in a written statement. “We are asking for help again to finish the work of saving their lives by giving them forever homes. The shelter is still over capacity and it’s essential that we make space when we open for intake [Monday].”
The disease remains present in Central Oklahoma. It has affected shelters, dog daycares and other places with a high volume of pets.
Symptoms of the flu in dogs include coughing, runny nose, labored breathing and loss of appetite. Animal experts are urging dog owners to talk to their vet about precautions — like vaccinations that are becoming scarce — and when it's safe for their dogs to be around other dogs again.
To see adoptable dogs, visit OKC Animal Welfare’s website.
OKC Crude Oil Geyser
Construction workers struck a 16-inch pipe containing crude oil Monday morning in far Northwest Oklahoma City.
The strike was near the intersection of Northwest 178th Street and North Portland Avenue. Some of the oil seeped into stormwater drains. In a social media post, the OKC fire department said no one was in any danger from the incident.
The last oil pipeline that burst in the city was in 2018. The oil spilled into a pond near a neighborhood near Memorial and County Line Road.
Lou Bianco lives a block away from where the spill occurred. He said he’s not too worried about the oil spill.
“I'm really not concerned about it. I mean, it's sad that they hit an oil pipeline, but it happens,” he said. “Maybe next time they'll go to 811 and try to find out where the lines are before they start digging.”
According to Okie811, a one-call system for locating underground utilities, all contractors are required to survey the land before digging. It is not known if the contractors who are building commercial real estate at the corner of Northwest 178th street and North Portland Avenue had a survey done before digging.
Derek Johnson, the environmental protection superintendent for the city, said there are environmental concerns that won’t be assessed until there is a clean-up plan.
“The amount of product that's released is always a worry. It might increase the time it takes to clean up. But in this case, they're doing a fantastic job with containment and collection of the product on site.”
The OKC fire department said crude oil is tough to get out of the environment. Johnson said clean-up could take flushing the storm drainage system and a lot of soil recovery.
“It hangs around. But luckily most of it has been kept on site and contained with containment berms,” he said.
The oil spill was contained within three hours. Johnson says the spill should be cleaned up pretty quickly.
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