Articles
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Health Care
Thousands added to Medicaid through expansion already have coverage
As Oklahoma expands its Medicaid program to include up to 628,000 able-bodied adults, one feature of the expansion that is often overlooked is that tens of thousands being added to the program already have coverage or access to care.Ray Carter | March 20, 2020
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Health Care
Many to be exempted from Medicaid-expansion cost-sharing provisions
A top official at the Oklahoma Health Care Authority says Gov. Kevin Stitt’s Medicaid-expansion plan will include substantial exemptions from the cost-sharing and work-requirement provisions that have been touted as the plan’s major selling point.Ray Carter | March 19, 2020
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Health Care, Law & Principles
Coronavirus response undermines case for many regulations
Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed an executive order that waives various regulations in Oklahoma, including mandates restricting the provision of telemedicine, to help address issues associated with coronavirus.Ray Carter | March 18, 2020
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Health Care
To combat coronavirus, leaders cut healthcare red tape
To combat the coronavirus, President Trump and state officials have rolled back burdensome regulations on healthcare workers.Kaitlyn Finley | March 17, 2020
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Health Care
Restrictions on ‘surprise’ medical bills advance despite apparent hospital lobbying
Legislation that would protect Oklahomans from inflated “surprise” medical bills has advanced from the state Senate despite apparent lobbying in opposition by hospital officials.Ray Carter | March 13, 2020
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Health Care, Law & Principles
Republicans endorse ‘implicit bias’ training
The Republican-controlled Oklahoma House of Representatives voted this week to encourage medical professionals serving pregnant women to undergo “implicit bias” training.Ray Carter | March 12, 2020
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Health Care
Medicaid expansion may consume tobacco funds
Gov. Kevin Stitt’s decision to unilaterally expand Oklahoma’s Medicaid program to include able-bodied adults has left lawmakers scrambling to fund the program. A measure that would redirect Oklahoma’s tobacco-settlement funds to Medicaid is one proposal that has now gained approval in the Oklahoma Senate.Ray Carter | March 12, 2020
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Health Care
Stitt seeks to grow government, expand Medicaid
Governor Kevin Stitt is seeking to expand Medicaid eligibility to hundreds of thousands of able-bodied adults under his “SoonerCare 2.0” plan.Kaitlyn Finley | March 10, 2020
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Health Care
Democrat praises GOP’s embrace of Obamacare
GOP Gov. Kevin Stitt’s embrace of Obamacare Medicaid expansion and Republican legislative leaders’ efforts to assist in that effort has reaped backhanded praise from an unexpected source: legislative Democrats who have long championed the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its Medicaid expansion.Ray Carter | March 6, 2020
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
Hospital tax may not cover Medicaid expansion costs
Gov. Kevin Stitt has endorsed Medicaid expansion and urged lawmakers to enact a de facto tax increase to pay for it. A related funding measure was placed on a Feb. 26 committee agenda for a morning vote, but the committee did not convene. The reasons for the delay were not immediately revealed, but challenges continue to surround the tax-increase proposal, ranging from the fact that it will not generate enough revenue to cover the state cost of Medicaid expansion to suggestions the proposal may be illegal .Ray Carter | February 26, 2020