Articles
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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
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
Conflict seen between Medicaid effort, food-stamp reform
As Oklahoma prepares for a likely statewide vote in 2020 on dramatically expanding the Medicaid entitlement to cover hundreds of thousands of able-bodied adults, the state is ironically ahead of national trends in controlling the expansion of a second entitlement program—food stamps—for a similar population.Mike Brake | December 10, 2019
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Health Care
Study undermines Medicaid expansion claim
Health insurance cost increases in Oklahoma were less than in most states, which indirectly undermines a key claim of Medicaid-expansion supporters.Ray Carter | December 6, 2019
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Health Care
Oklahoma Medicaid growth crowds out other priorities
Over the past 20 years, Medicaid’s share of total state spending has grown faster than any other category of state spending.Kaitlyn Finley | December 4, 2019
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Health Care
Lawmakers learn shady management companies could benefit from Medicaid expansion
Medicaid expansion has been touted as a way to shore up financially troubled rural hospitals, but at a recent legislative study, lawmakers learned the beneficiaries of Medicaid expansion may include management companies that have run several rural Oklahoma hospitals into the ground.Ray Carter | November 22, 2019
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Health Care
Stitt calls Medicaid expansion ‘Plan F’
In a recent interview, Gov. Kevin Stitt expressed his disapproval of State Question 802, calling it “problematic” and “Plan F” for the state.Kaitlyn Finley | November 21, 2019
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Health Care
Conflicting responses given on Medicaid agency’s role in teen program
Thrive, an OKC organization that works on teen-pregnancy issues, prominently lists the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) as one of seven partners on its website. A spokesperson for the OHCA, downplayed any ties between the agency and Thrive.Ray Carter | November 14, 2019