Oklahoma
Oklahoma law now requires hospitals to post prices of procedures
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — If you have ever undergone a medical procedure, you know one of the scariest parts is not knowing how much you will have to pay.
That will no longer be the case for Oklahomans starting Saturday, November 1st.
Governor Kevin Stitt held a press conference Tuesday with other supporters of the new Hospital Price Transparency Law.
“It’s asking for transparency in pricing at hospitals, pretty common sense for consumers,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said.
Starting November 1st, Oklahoma hospitals must post prices for procedures, so patients know how much they are paying before the bill arrives.
“We should be able to know how much things cost and not be surprised by humongous medical bills,” Gov. Stitt said.
“This law protects consumers who say if they’ve been harmed by overcharges, they also have a private right of action to go after the hospital for way overcharging them beyond the prices they were to have paid,” Cynthia Fisher, Founder and Chairman for Patient Rights Advocate said.
Fisher says in their most recent report, only 12% of Oklahoma hospitals reviewed were fully complying with the federal hospital price transparency rule first implemented nearly five years ago.
“And what has happened in the shadows is there is wide price variation,” Fisher said. “One patient may pay with their plan $1,200, and another patient may be billed over $12,000 for that very same procedure.”
Supporters believe this law will create a free market system, and in turn, bring down prices.
“I think we’ll see prices fall and quality soar,” Dr. Keith Smith, Co-Founder of the Free Market Medical Association and Surgery Center of Oklahoma said.
The State Department of Health will make sure hospitals post prices.
We reached out to a couple of hospitals to see how they plan to roll this out.
Integris Health never got back with us, and OU Health said they would send over something Wednesday.
Gov. Stitt says there is one main goal behind this law.
“We’re going to put power back into the consumers hands, going to lower health care cost across the state of Oklahoma,” Gov. Stitt said.
You can find the price transparency tool here.
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Moves up Friday Start Times for Baseball, Softball Games
OU fans hoping to make it to either diamond on Friday will need to get there earlier than expected.
Oklahoma announced on Thursday that its baseball and softball series openers will each begin at 5:30 p.m on Friday.
Game 1 of the No. 14 Sooners’ baseball series against Missouri was scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m., while the No. 1 softball team’s series opener against No. 8 Arkansas was slated for 7 p.m.
In a pair of releases on OU’s athletic website, the reason given for both time changes was “forecasted inclement weather.” According to the National Weather Service, severe weather is supposed to arrive in Norman and its surrounding areas around 8 p.m.
OU’s other baseball games against the Tigers on Saturday and Sunday will remain at their scheduled times (4 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively). The softball games scheduled for Saturday and Sunday will remain at 7 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
The baseball team’s three-game duel with Mizzou will be OU’s third home series of SEC play. Oklahoma opened conference play by taking two games of three against Texas A&M before dropping two of three to Alabama a few weeks later.
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OU has already played three SEC road series. The Sooners won two games of three at LSU in March before getting swept at Texas a week later. Most recently — last week — Oklahoma won two games against Vanderbilt in Nashville.
Oklahoma (24-12 overall, 7-8 SEC) sits in a five-way tie for ninth place in the SEC standings alongside Mississippi State, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Missouri, on the other hand, has played its way out of contention.
The Tigers come to Norman 20-17 and 3-12. They earned a road series win against Kentucky two weeks ago, but they followed that up with three losses in a row to fellow conference bottom feeder South Carolina last week. Mizzou has been swept three times — by Auburn, Texas A&M and the Gamecocks — since the start of SEC play.
On the softball side, Oklahoma is ranked No. 1 after taking two games of three against former top-ranked squad Texas. The Sooners, though, dropped their third game in Austin before falling to unranked Oklahoma State at Devon Park in Oklahoma City on Wednesday.
The Sooners are 40-5 overall and 13-2 in conference play. OU currently sits atop the SEC standings, one game ahead of second-place Alabama.
Arkansas comes into the series at Love’s Field on a heater. The Razorbacks (35-6, 10-5) have won six of their last seven contests. Their only series loss of conference play this year came against Alabama, which is ranked No. 3.
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Oklahoma
Oklahoma police set up sting for stolen property
TULSA, Okla. (KOKH) — One person has been arrested after allegedly trying to sell stolen property on Facebook.
On April 10, an officer with the Tulsa Police Department saw a post on Facebook Marketplace for a projector lens that was stolen from the condemned Promenade Mall.
The lens, which is worth $20,000, was listed for just $500.
The officer used a fake Facebook account to message the seller and arranged a trade for the lens in exchange for a minibike.
Earlier this week, 19-year-old Zachery Scrivner met with the officer and was arrested.
According to the police department, Scrivner said he knew the lens was stolen but decided to try to sell it anyway.
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He was arrested on a complaint of knowingly concealing stolen property.
Oklahoma
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