Articles
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Health Care
Expert: To improve health, improve education
If lawmakers want to improve health outcomes in Oklahoma, one way to generate significant progress is to improve education outcomes, one expert recently told members of the legislative Healthcare Working Group.Ray Carter | September 6, 2019
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Education
Critic of virtual schools has degree from online university
A state senator who has been a prominent critic of Oklahoma’s virtual charter schools for K-12 students holds a doctorate from a for-profit online university that was subsequently closed amid claims it was a diploma mill.Ray Carter | September 6, 2019
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Health Care
Medicaid expansion could shift some federal costs to Oklahoma
Members of the legislative Healthcare Working Group learned Wednesday that one part of Medicaid expansion would involve the federal government offloading costs onto state taxpayers.Ray Carter | September 5, 2019
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Health Care
Hospitals sue patients despite insurance, Medicaid coverage
Hospitals in Oklahoma and elsewhere are under fire for suing patients over unpaid medical bills. Oklahoma hospital officials have suggested Medicaid expansion will reduce those lawsuits. But experts say many people being sued by hospitals today have private insurance or are already on Medicaid.Ray Carter | August 30, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
Does Oklahoma’s uninsured rate reflect reality?
Officially, 14 percent of Oklahomans are uninsured. But one Senate leader questions whether that statistic reflects reality because it excludes a significant number of people: those who receive care through Indian Health Service facilities or other tribal government programs.Ray Carter | August 28, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Economy, Good Government
Stitt’s proposal would not be first change to state gaming compacts
While Gov. Kevin Stitt’s call to renegotiate Oklahoma’s gaming compacts has drawn opposition, Stitt’s proposal would not be the first alteration of those state-tribal agreements. In fact, just over a year ago, the compacts were indirectly revised. And the year-ago revisions drew opposition not from tribal governments, but from officials who felt the new agreement shortchanged state government.Ray Carter | August 26, 2019
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Budget & Tax, Economy, Good Government
Deregulation could spur state growth, lawmakers told
For Oklahoma lawmakers seeking to boost economic growth and job creation in Oklahoma, one expert says a key step is to pare down regulation. “There is considerable evidence, academic evidence, that regulations slow economic growth.”Ray Carter | August 26, 2019
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Education
Other states struggle with school lobbyist issue
The hiring of contract lobbyists by four public school districts during the 2018-2019 school year was unusual for Oklahoma, but the practice has occurred in other states where officials have struggled with all the associated problems caused by the practice.Ray Carter | August 23, 2019
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Education
Schools’ lobbying raises open-records concerns
In addition to raising concerns about government accountability and indirect funneling of taxpayer dollars to political campaigns, schools’ use of contract lobbyists may also reduce government transparency and sidestep open-records laws.Ray Carter | August 22, 2019
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Health Care
Medicaid expansion touted as boon for ex-convicts
When advocates discuss expanding Oklahoma’s Medicaid welfare program, they typically suggest beneficiaries will be financially struggling individuals. But this week’s meeting of the legislative Healthcare Working Group focused on a very different group of expansion beneficiaries: People who have just re-entered society after being convicted of crimes that sent them to prison.Ray Carter | August 22, 2019