Author: Guest

Hurry Up and Wait: For thousands of families, critical services can be a decade away (Guest Post: Erin Taylor)

There is a certain amount of hustle commonly involved in raising a child with a developmental disability.  As parents, we’re managing special education plans, medical appointments, and specialty therapies. But there is one experience where endurance, and not hustle, is called for: The Waiting List. [More...]

Speak up by Friday: Protect SoonerCare for thousands of Oklahoma families

This spring, Governor Fallin and the state Legislature directed the state Medicaid agency to build a plan to cut health coverage for low-income parents who don’t meet a work requirement. When a draft of the agency’s plan became available this… Read more [More...]

SQ 793 is about corporate control of a medical profession (Guest Post: Joel Robison)

Of the five state questions on the ballot in November, only SQ 793, which would allow optometrists and opticians to operate in retail establishments, is the subject of intense, well-funded campaigns from both supporters and opponents. We asked both campaigns… Read more [More...]

SQ 793 will expand vision care access for low-income Oklahomans (Guest Post: John Kusel)

Of the five state questions on the ballot in November, only SQ 793, which would allow optometrists and opticians to operate in retail establishments, is the subject of intense, well-funded campaigns from both supporters and opponents. We asked both campaigns… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma’s plan for Medicaid work requirements is a dangerous experiment that will put the health of thousands of Oklahomans at risk (Guest post: Philip Rocco)

Philip Rocco is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Marquette University and co-author of Obamacare Wars: Federalism, State Politics, and the Affordable Care Act (University Press of Kansas, 2016). This post is excerpted from a public comment authored by… Read more [More...]

How many Oklahomans would lose health coverage under reporting requirements? The state doesn’t say (Guest post: Dana Bacon)

Dana Bacon serves as regional director of government affairs for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. As required by both executive order and state law, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) released an 1115 Medicaid waiver proposal for SoonerCare on July… Read more [More...]

Oklahoma’s Proposed Work Rule Would Harm Mothers and Children (Guest post: Joan Alker)

Joan Alker is the Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families and a Research Professor at the Georgetown McCourt School of Public Policy Oklahoma has one of the highest uninsured rates for children in the nation, and the… Read more [More...]

Why shouldn’t women be allowed to talk about wages with their co-workers? (Guest Post: Liz Waggoner)

Liz Waggoner is the Executive Director of the Oklahoma Women’s Coalition, the state’s leading advocacy organization for women and girls. You might have missed it, but April 10th was Equal Pay Day in the United States.  Equal Pay Day indicates how… Read more [More...]

In a potential teacher walkout, communities must step up to fill the nutrition gap (Guest post: Brent Sadler)

Brent Sadler is Vice President of Community Investments for the Tulsa Area United Way. With the potential for a teacher walkout on the horizon, one of our greatest concerns is food insecurity for our most vulnerable citizens – our children. … Read more [More...]

New Oklahoma STABLE accounts will make it easier for Oklahomans with disabilities to save for the future (Guest Post: Amy Smith)

Amy Smith, an OK Policy Summer Policy Institute alumna, is a graduate student in Disability Studies and an intern in the LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She lives… Read more [More...]