By:
Steve Lewis
January 12, 2021 // Updated: January 12, 2021

Recently Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, issued a press release expressing his continued opposition to the Medicaid managed care proposal of Gov. Stitt. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) issued a Request for Proposal for insurance companies to bid on becoming…
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While there are arguments to pass a vape tax as a public health measure, it would likely be an insufficient and unstable way to fund a public program as crucial to our health as Medicaid.
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By:
Emma Morris
November 18, 2020 // Updated: November 17, 2020

This is the third of three analysis pieces about the plan to introduce managed care organizations (MCOs) to oversee Oklahoma’s Medicaid program. Part one focused on managed care being a bad investment for Oklahoma, and part two focused on managed…
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By:
Emma Morris
October 16, 2020 // Updated: October 28, 2020

Following voters’ approval of Medicaid expansion during the June 30 election, Oklahoma’s next steps should be relatively simple. The state has already been providing high-quality, low-cost Medicaid for years; the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) has a decades-long track record of excellence in efficiency and effectiveness. OHCA could expand Medicaid to cover more than 200,000 low-income Oklahomans for between $125 million and $164 million, all without raising taxes.
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By:
Emma Morris
August 19, 2020 // Updated: November 19, 2020

Oklahomans on June 30 approved State Question 802, which amended the Oklahoma Constitution to expand Medicaid to low-income adults. Now it’s time to take the next step in implementing that promise. Funding expansion will be a key issue for the Legislature to tackle this spring.
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By:
Carly Putnam
September 24, 2019 // Updated: June 26, 2020

It’s been over seven years since states first began expanding Medicaid to cover low-income working-age adults. To date, 37 states (including the District of Columbia) have opted to expand coverage, and not a single state having done so has since…
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Perhaps the best thing that can be said about this year's legislative session from a health care perspective is that, refreshingly, this was the first in recent years that didn't include a full-scale attack on access to SoonerCare.
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By:
Paul Shinn
May 29, 2019 // Updated: July 2, 2019

Overall, it's best to think of this budget as a second step on what needs to be a long journey. When adjusted for inflation, this budget is still 10.1 percent below the FY 2009 level. Over half of state agencies still have lower budgets than they did in FY 2009 without accounting for inflation.
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By:
Guest
February 6, 2019 // Updated: July 2, 2019

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.
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For Oklahoma families to prosper, they must be able to take advantage of work and educational opportunities. But working or doing well in school is much, much harder without consistent access to health care. SoonerCare, Oklahoma’s Medicaid program, provides that…
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