Articles
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Health Care
Federal court strikes blow to Medicaid work-requirement effort
Upholding a lower court ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently ruled that work requirements cannot be imposed on Medicaid recipients because the goal of the program is simply to increase health coverage, not to improve health outcomes or encourage self-sufficiency and independence from government welfare.Ray Carter | February 17, 2020
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
Bill would save state money, then give savings to tribal governments
Oklahoma state government could generate millions of dollars in savings by cost-shifting Medicaid costs to the federal government, but half of state government savings would then be given to tribal governments under legislation approved by a Senate committee on Monday.Ray Carter | February 11, 2020
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Health Care
Funding Medicaid expansion through hospital fees draws opposition
The Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program (SHOPP), a state fee assessed on hospitals’ net patient revenue that operates much like a traditional income tax, has been touted as a way to fund Oklahoma’s state share of Medicaid-expansion costs.Ray Carter | February 10, 2020
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Health Care
Stitt declares support for Medicaid expansion
Reversing a stance he has publicly touted throughout his term, Gov. Kevin Stitt announced Thursday he will support expansion of Oklahoma’s Medicaid program to include up to 628,000 able-bodied adults at a state taxpayer cost of as much as $374 million annually.Ray Carter | January 30, 2020
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Health Care
Is Saint Francis shortchanging Muskogee?
Muskogee officials claim Saint Francis has failed to pay necessary in-kind payments to the city, hurting public school funding.Kaitlyn Finley | January 23, 2020
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Health Care
Indiana Medicaid expansion tied to budget challenges
The rising cost of Indiana’s Medicaid program is creating budget challenges for that state that have prevented lawmakers from addressing other needs, including schools.Ray Carter | January 21, 2020
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Health Care
A glide path to more government control
In Oklahoma, there are targeted efforts to expand welfare to hundreds of thousands of able-bodied adults through Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.Kaitlyn Finley | January 16, 2020
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Health Care
Indiana’s ‘conservative’ Medicaid expansion proves costly, ineffective
Many Oklahoma Republicans suggest Indiana's expansion of Medicaid, enacted when Vice President Mike Pence was governor of that state, provides a “conservative” alternative to traditional Medicaid expansion. But Indiana’s expansion has been expensive and failed to rein in health costs, end hospital closures, or improve health outcomes.Ray Carter | January 15, 2020
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Health Care
Medicaid ‘mortality’ study bears closer scrutiny
A new study from a liberal think tank claims Oklahoma’s rejection of Medicaid expansion has cost lives, but a closer look at the evidence shows their numbers are shaky.Kaitlyn Finley | December 17, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
State government funds group that blames health problems on racism
In recent years, the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) has paid at least $1.6 million to an organization that “believes that the most powerful risk factors in health are laws and policies that have perpetuated the legacy of racism, discrimination, and segregation throughout our nation’s history.”Ray Carter | December 13, 2019