Articles
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Health Care
New director, new direction
If you haven’t heard, Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust is searching for a new director. But what this small state agency with a giant bank account really needs is a new direction.Jonathan Small | December 7, 2018
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Health Care
Congress must follow states’ initiative and reform Medicaid
To ensure the longevity of Medicaid, Congress should change the funding model and implement block grants that give states the flexibility to innovate and introduce cost-saving measures that deliver better care to their most vulnerable constituents.Kaitlyn Finley | December 6, 2018
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Budget & Tax
Boom and bust: Oil and gas prices push and pull state tax collections
Oil and natural gas prices have a significant impact on state tax collections. Oklahoma would benefit from a more diverse economy and from tax reforms that reduce volatility in state revenue collections.Curtis Shelton | December 5, 2018
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Education
Moms tipped governor’s race
Why did 100,000 African-American women in Florida vote for Trump-backed Republican Ron DeSantis over Andrew Gillum, a Democrat vying to become the state’s first African-American governor?Jonathan Small | November 30, 2018
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Health Care
Medicaid health outcomes questionable
Congress and state legislatures together have spent trillions of dollars on Medicaid and CHIP over the past two decades. At the same time, there has been relatively little research on health outcomes for beneficiaries. Studies so far show mixed results, with some even showing worse outcomes for people on Medicaid than for people with no coverage at all.Kaitlyn Finley | November 21, 2018
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Budget & Tax
How money walks: Florida
Due in part to Florida’s much friendlier tax climate, the state has gained $156 billion from wealth migration since 1992. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has lost $1.22 billion since 1992.Curtis Shelton | November 20, 2018
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Health Care
Medicaid eating state budget, feeding national debt
SoonerCare expenditures, as a percentage of total state spending, have nearly doubled since 1997. They now account for 30 percent of total Oklahoma state spending.Kaitlyn Finley | November 19, 2018
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Budget & Tax
October 2018 gross receipts set a record high
October 2018 gross receipts set an October record high of $1.14 billion. Record highs have been set for all four months of this fiscal year.Curtis Shelton | November 15, 2018
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Health Care
States turn to work requirements to fight escalating Medicaid costs
Due to rapidly escalating costs and increases in enrollment, states are pursuing new ways to reform their Medicaid programs, including work requirements for certain eligible able-bodied adults.Kaitlyn Finley | November 13, 2018
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Higher Education
Lawsuit challenges speech code, bias response team
Like many universities across the nation, the University of Oklahoma operates a bias reporting hotline that allows any aggrieved or offended party to report and launch an investigation into supposed acts of bias.Mike Brake | November 12, 2018