New program for uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions now accepting applications

A key provision of the health care reform law passed in March creates new insurance options for individuals with pre-existing health conditions. The new program, known as the Oklahoma Temporary High Risk Pool, began accepting applications this week. Click here… Read more [More...]

Health Care Reform (2): New costs and new savings for state government

This is the second of what will be an ongoing series of posts looking at the impact of the new federal health care reform law on Oklahoma and Oklahomans. The first looked at how reform will mitigate the public benefits… Read more [More...]

Health Care Reform (1): Coverage expansion can turn steep cliffs into gentle dips

This is the first of what will be an ongoing series of posts looking at the impact of the new federal health care reform law on Oklahoma and Oklahomans. For full information on health care reform, the Henry J. Kaiser… Read more [More...]

Listening to the Mann: For Federal Medicaid Director, 2014 starts now

This week I had the pleasure of attending a gathering of policy analysts and advocates from 15 states on “Transforming Health Care Coverage for Children and Families,” convened by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. The conference, which focused… Read more [More...]

Hurry up and wait: Even with federal approval, Oklahoma coverage expansions left on hold

According to the latest U.S. Census figures, 565,000 Oklahomans, or 15.8 percent of the total population, were without health insurance in 2007-2008. The uninsured rate is just under 10 percent for children but over 20 percent for adults ages 18-64.… Read more [More...]

Health Care Reform for Dummies… and the French

Every year or two, I get an e-mail from my former housemate in France asking me to help make sense of some raging American political issue – impeachment, the electoral college, superdelegates – that is getting regular coverage abroad but… Read more [More...]

This American Health Care debate

As the national health care reform debate has unfolded this past year, we have occasionally tried to point our readers towards good sources for making sense of these complicated issues. This post from  the summer suggested some especially useful magazine… Read more [More...]

Pleasant surprise: Oklahoma health insurance gains ground for all ages, types of coverage

As we noted right after the numbers were  released, last week’s Census Bureau report on health insurance coverage provided some unexpectedly good news for Oklahoma. While the nation as a whole saw an increase in the number of uninsured, which… Read more [More...]

Uninsured Oklahomans remain a problem we should take seriously

The News on 6 in Tulsa reported last week on Oklahomans who lack health insurance. OK Policy’s David Blatt was featured in the story, available here in both print and video, describing who is likely to be uninsured and explaining… Read more [More...]

What if we just left health care alone?

Health care reform is in the news. We have the world’s most expensive health care system, but our health care outcomes are not that good and we still leave one-sixth of Americans under age 65 without insurance coverage. President Obama… Read more [More...]