By:
Dave Hamby
May 9, 2021 // Updated: May 7, 2021
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Rural Oklahomans frequently carry larger burden for court fines, fees; Are Medicaid patients overusing the ER?; Follow through on SQ 781 by funding treatment and rehabilitation services; HB 1775 would whitewash our history
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Our analysis suggests that rural Oklahomans are asked to pay just as much, and often more, than their urban counterparts. More worrisome still, urban areas like Tulsa and Oklahoma counties have the most difficulty in collecting fines and fees, meaning rural Oklahomans are effectively contributing more of their money to fund the court system as compared to their urban counterparts.
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Legislators concerned about rising health care costs should worry less about the health care practices of individual SoonerCare members and more about how we can most effectively provide health care for all Oklahomans through the SoonerCare program.
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Despite all the hoopla this session over the many politically charged bills dealing with wedge issues, there has been some truly positive legislation passed by thoughtful legislators. One of those signed by Gov. Stitt last week is Senate Bill 89,…
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By:
Lstrom
May 2, 2021 // Updated: May 2, 2021
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What the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Means for Oklahoma (webinar); Policy Matters: Oklahomans deserve budget transparency; 2020 Census Evaluation Report: Understanding How Oklahomans Are Doing; New law provides academic, behavioral supports for students in need (Capitol Update); Privatized Managed Care: The Facts.
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By:
Emma Morris
April 27, 2021 // Updated: April 27, 2021
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Privatized managed care is not supported by peer-reviewed evidence: it hasn’t been definitively linked to budget savings or improved health outcomes. In fact, it will likely cost the state money and harm many Oklahoma communities. Lawmakers have the option and the responsibility to protect Oklahomans’ health care and stop this reckless change.
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By:
Paul Shinn
April 26, 2021 // Updated: April 26, 2021
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Oklahoma is one of few states where there is currently no introduced budget and limited discussion of budget priorities. Oklahoma is likely to once again wait until late in the legislative session to introduce a budget and then to bypass regular legislative rules to pass a budget in just a week or two with little to no public debate.
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Third-year Representative Sherrie Conley, R-Newcastle, has been on a mission to provide for the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) to address the core academic and non-academic needs of all students in Oklahoma public schools. During the 2020 interim…
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By:
Dave Hamby
April 25, 2021 // Updated: April 25, 2021
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Oklahomans demanded Medicaid expansion. We must do it quickly and get it right: Paid family and medical leave is good for families and businesses; SB 511 creates a legal path for harm reduction in Oklahoma (Guest Post); Policy Matters: SB 2 traumatizes Oklahomans, threatens economic progress; State Supreme Court nominations: Unnecessary to ‘fix’ what’s not broken (Capitol Update)
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OK Policy is currently hiring for two positions on our policy team. The deadline to apply for both positions is May 16, 2021 at 5:00 pm (CST).
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