SIIA, www.siia.org

Oklahoma Tax on Paid Claims Ruled Unconstitutional

This afternoon, a recently enacted tax that would have applied to all claims paid in Oklahoma by health plans, was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Earlier this summer, the Oklahoma State Legislature passed a measure, subsequently signed into law by the Governor, which would have assessed a 1% tax on all health claims paid within the State. TPAs of self-insured health plans as well as stop-loss providers were to be taxable entities.

Immediately following the law’s enactment, SIIA, along with other groups, challenged the law based on numerous violations to the State’s Constitution. Oklahoma State Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland shared that opinion and thusly filed an official petition with the Oklahoma Supreme Court.

Today, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled, by a 6-3 margin, that the law did in fact violate the State Constitution and is “not to be enforced”.

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This entry was posted by Adam V. Russo on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 8:35 am and is filed under Claims Procedures, Oklahoma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.