OKPOLICY.ORG
During comments in Washington D.C. on Thursday, Gov. Stitt laid out the tenets for his health care plan to counter Medicaid expansion efforts. The plan includes elements that will inevitably draw lawsuits from health care organizations and advocates who fight to protect the rights and coverage for low-income residents.
The most troubling elements of the plan include:
- Legally questionable changes to Medicaid’s financing
- Work reporting requirements that have been struck down every time other states have tried to implement them
- Removal of basic consumer protections by limiting patient access to life-saving drugs
- Higher out-of-pocket costs for patients who will receive less care
- Voluntarily limiting federal Medicaid dollars coming into the state through what is effectively a block grant process that will result in people losing coverage or crucial benefits.
We applaud the Governor’s call for Oklahomans to weigh in on this important decision, but we urge him to also bring the Legislature to the table rather than trying to accomplish this effort through an administrative order. We also want to raise up the voices of the record 313,000 Oklahomans who signed the SQ 802 ballot petition in response to nearly a decade of inaction by state officials.
What if any impact would Stitt’s proposal have on the Petition initiative?
Thanks,
Melissa Gill
I feel the governor’s opposition is unfair. Where are the laws of justice, how it affects the citizens of Okahomans who are in nursing homes, hospitals, senior citizens and children. There was a reason for the petition for Medicaid expansion. Some of our legislators are not listening to us . We are taxpapyers and voters.