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In The Know is a daily synopsis of Oklahoma policy-related news and blogs. Inclusion of a story does not necessarily mean endorsement by the Oklahoma Policy Institute. You can sign up here to receive In The Know by e-mail.
State House Minority Leader Scott Inman said he maintains hope Gov. Mary Fallin and the Legislature will find a way to accept billions of dollars offered by the federal government to provide medical care to nearly 180,000 low-income Oklahomans. A OK Policy report previously examined the track record of the Medicaid expansion in other states. A state Board of Health member asked his fellow board members to endorse a plan that would use federal Medicaid expansion dollars for an alternative private option to expand health coverage. You can see the full private option plan from the Oklahoma Hospital Association here.
The private insurer Coventry’s decision to drop out of offering plans on healthcare.gov has disrupted insurance for some Oklahomans. New information from the Oklahoma Department of Health shows dramatic increases in breastfeeding rates in the state. Falling fuel prices are helping state and local governments as well as consumers save money, but they raise concerns about the broader state economy. Some small oil and gas companies have had to sell off equipment to stay afloat as crude oil prices drop.
Oklahoma Policy Institute released a newly updated and improved data tools page, where you can dive into statistics on each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties and the state as a whole. You can see our announcement of what’s new here and use the data tools here. An an OU sociologist said Oklahoma’s high female incarceration rate is due to “mean” laws, inadequate help to addicts and the mentally ill, and politicians who are not concerned with rehabilitating criminals. Several Oklahoma ministers said they plan to wear hoodies on the pulpit to protest proposed state legislation that could criminalize the wearing of hoodies.
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education agenda for this year’s legislative session includes a $98 million funding increase for college completion goals and opposition to any measures that allows guns on campus. Fogger machines are being used at Inola’s elementary school after a rash flu, strep throat and an unknown viral illness have left 30 percent of students home sick. Oklahoma’s drought was one of the nation’s costliest climate disasters in 2014, according to a federal report released last week.
The Number of the Day is the median age in Oklahoma. In today’s Policy Note, Vox examines how bad public transit keeps people from jobs.
In The News
Oklahoma House Minority Leader Scott Inman hopeful for Medicaid expansion
State House Minority Leader Scott Inman said Tuesday he maintains hope Gov. Mary Fallin and the Legislature will find a way to accept billions of dollars offered by the federal government to provide medical care to nearly 180,000 low-income Oklahomans. However, Fallin’s office quickly reiterated its opposition to taking Medicaid expansion funds offered through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
See also: Medicaid Expansion’s Track Record Shows It’s a Good Deal for Oklahoma from OK Policy.
Oklahoma board hears plan to expand health care coverage
A state Board of Health member asked his fellow board members Tuesday to endorse a plan that would use federal Medicaid expansion dollars for an alternative plan to increase health insurance coverage options for low-income Oklahomans.
See also: Transforming Health Care: A Proposal for Oklahoma’s Future from the Oklahoma Hospital Association.
Coventry pull out complicates health insurance enrollment
Emma Mallory is self-employed and got health insurance coverage last year through the Affordable Care Act. Now the 33-year-old Cleveland, Oklahoma, woman is seven months’ pregnant and finds herself suddenly without health insurance, despite her diligent efforts to ensure that didn’t occur. Mallory selected a plan through Coventry on the marketplace that the federal government established for Oklahoma when the state refused to set up its own. Coventry was originally listed among six companies offering ACA insurance in Oklahoma for 2015 but dropped out at the end of last year.
Read more from the Tulsa World.
Health Partnerships Improve Oklahoma’s Breastfeeding Rates
New information from the Oklahoma Department of Health shows dramatic increases in breastfeeding initiation rates in the state. Information from the agency’s Women, Infants and Children Program shows breastfeeding rates in the state have surpassed state and national averages and achieved the Healthy People 2020 goals six years early. Healthy People is a science-based, 10-year national initiative that sets objectives for improving the health of all Americans nationwide.
Falling fuel prices bittersweet for local Oklahoma governments
Gasoline and diesel prices continue to tumble, leading to fuel savings for consumers and concerns about the broader state economy. While falling fuel prices are saving individual consumers money, they also are leading to savings for public vehicles and services. The Emergency Medical Services Authority burns through diesel as it sends ambulances throughout the state. State and local governments also are experiencing fuel savings, but they are watching the situation cautiously.
Oil And Gas Companies Sell Unused Equipment During Downturn
Some small oil and gas companies have had to make tough choices as crude oil prices drop. An Oklahoma-based auction site said its phones are ringing off the hook with companies trying to unload equipment just to stay afloat. This auction site is called Production Brokers.
New & Improved: Detailed, interactive county-level data tables
Today Oklahoma Policy Institute published detailed county-level tables on 12 key social and economic indicators, now including time series data. The new tables on our State & County Data resource page cover topics such as: population and income, poverty and free school lunch, employment in state and local government, labor force participation and unemployment, and insurance, disability, obesity and smoking.
Oklahoma’s ‘mean’ laws to blame for high female incarceration rate, sociologist says
Oklahoma has “mean” laws, provides little help to addicts and the mentally ill and is full of tough-on-crime politicians who are not concerned with rehabilitating criminals, an OU sociologist said Wednesday during a forum on female incarceration. In recent years, Oklahoma has held the distinction as the state that locks up women at the highest rate in the nation. Susan Sharp, a University of Oklahoma sociology professor who has been studying the state’s high rate of female incarceration since the 1990s, was highly critical of Oklahoma’s drug laws, calling them “mean” and overly punitive. She said the state’s tough-on-crime sentencing guidelines are to blame for nearly all of the women serving lengthy terms in state prison.
Oklahoma pastors plan church hoodie protest
The Rev. Jesse Jackson will wear a hooded sweatshirt instead of his usual preacher’s robe when he steps into the pulpit of his northeast Oklahoma City church on the Sunday before the Jan. 19 federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Jackson, pastor of East Sixth Street Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and several other Oklahoma ministers said they plan to wear such informal clothing to protest proposed state legislation they think is an attempt to criminalize the wearing of hooded shirts popularly known as hoodies.
Regents Want More Money, No Guns for State Schools
The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education have their agenda ready for lawmakers. State schools will ask lawmakers for more money in fiscal year 2016. “If you look at all the new money requested in the budget — we believe it’s a conservative budget — it requests $98 million in new money, about a 9 percent increase, and every dollar is tied to our top initiative in college degree completion,” said Chancellor Glen Johnson.
Read more from Public Radio Tulsa.
Thirty percent of students at Inola elementary school are away sick this week
Fogger machines are being used at Inola’s elementary school after an “odd” rash of illness is running rampant there, said Kent Holbrook, superintendent. About 200 students, which is 30 percent of the school, are home sick this week from a variety of illnesses, including flu, strep throat and an unknown viral illness, he said.
Oklahoma’s drought was one of the nation’s costliest climate disasters in 2014, federal report shows
Oklahoma’s drought was one of the nation’s costliest climate disasters in 2014, according to a federal report released last week. The drought in the western United States, including Oklahoma, was included in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters list. The list includes eight climate events that each resulted in an estimated $1 billion or more in losses.
Quote of the Day
“We’ve ignored these families for generations.”
– OU Sociologist Dr. Susan Sharp, speaking about Oklahoma’s high rate of female incarceration (first in the US). Sharp says that women who are incarcerated in Oklahoma usually meet one or more of three criteria: a poverty-stricken background, relationships with men engaged in criminal behavior, and a history of being abused (Source: bit.ly/1AOpNwL).
Number of the Day
36.2
Median age in Oklahoma.
Source: American Community Survey.
See previous Numbers of the Day here.
Policy Note
Bad public transit isn’t just inconvenient; it keeps people from jobs
It makes intuitive sense that good access to trains and buses in a big, dense city would make people better off economically. If you can easily reach more jobs, you have more opportunities. A new study tests this theory in the Big Apple and finds evidence that this is true. People with the most access to jobs via public transit do pretty well for themselves, as do people in far-flung areas who largely commute by car. But the people with the least transportation access — those at the intersection of low levels of both car-commuting and public transit access — appear to do the worst.
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