Articles
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Health Care
Medicaid-expansion follies show need for initiative-petition reform
Approved by a razor-thin margin in 2020 through the initiative-petition process, Medicaid expansion added hundreds of thousands of able-bodied adults to Oklahoma’s welfare rolls and helped trigger a roughly half-billion-dollar budget shortfall.Jonathan Small | March 16, 2026
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Health Care
Oklahoma’s Medicaid expansion has turned into a money pit
Five years after Oklahoma expanded Medicaid, none of the promised benefits have materialized. Rural hospitals aren’t thriving, state finances aren’t in a stronger position, and health outcomes haven’t improved.Jonathan Small | March 2, 2026
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
Oklahoma’s Medicaid bill comes due
The Obamacare Medicaid expansion was sold as a program fueled by “free” federal dollars, but Oklahoma is now seeing the real bill. Spending at the Oklahoma Health Care Authority has climbed by nearly $3.5 billion since 2020.Curtis Shelton | February 18, 2026
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Health Care
Hilbert bill blocking Medicaid for illegals clears first hurdle
Lawmakers have advanced legislation that would bar illegal immigrants from accessing Medicaid benefits by requiring the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to verify every applicant’s legal status through the federal SAVE system before approving coverage.Ray Carter | February 11, 2026
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
Medicaid costs surge, squeezing Oklahoma’s budget
Oklahoma’s Medicaid program has become one of the fastest-growing pressures on the state budget, crowding out other budget priorities.Curtis Shelton | February 6, 2026
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Budget & Tax, Health Care
Warnings prove true as Medicaid expansion strains Oklahoma state budget
Medicaid is blowing a hole in the state budget, with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority requesting nearly $500 million in new funding. Able-bodied, working-age adults added under the Obamacare Medicaid expansion continue to drive costs upward.Ray Carter | February 4, 2026
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Health Care
GAO finds Obamacare fraud is easy
Government Accountability Office officials told Sen. James Lankford that 19 of 20 fraudulent test applications for Obamacare—submitted using entirely fake identities, Social Security numbers, and documents—were approved through HealthCare.gov or insurance brokers.Ray Carter | December 17, 2025
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Health Care
Oklahoma hailed as health-care transparency leader
Starting November 1, Oklahoma will become the first state in the nation to fully enforce hospital price transparency, allowing patients to see and compare the costs of hundreds of medical procedures before surgery.Ray Carter | October 28, 2025
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Health Care, Culture & the Family, Good Government
Work requirements could help 125,000 Oklahomans move from welfare to work
Work requirements recently enacted by Congress could help more than 125,000 able-bodied Oklahomans transition from welfare to work, lawmakers were told during a recent study.Ray Carter | October 21, 2025
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Health Care
Billions spent, few results: Medicaid expansion falls short of promises to rural Oklahoma
Five years after Oklahoma voters narrowly approved Medicaid expansion, a new legislative study has found that the policy has had little impact on stabilizing the state’s rural hospitals or improving health outcomes—despite billions of dollars in added government spending.Ray Carter | October 15, 2025