Health Care
Free Market Friday: Out of balance
May 13, 2016
Jonathan Small
As details emerge about the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s Obamacare Medicaid expansion rebalancing proposal, the most vulnerable Oklahomans, policymakers, and taxpayers should be very concerned.
The OHCA estimates 175,000 people will enroll in their new Obamacare-compliant entitlement program, yet their own consultants estimated that up to 628,000 would be eligible. In states that have already undergone rebalancing, actual new enrollment surpasses projections by an average of 91 percent.
The OHCA has revised cost estimates upward at least twice. State taxpayers will suffer harmful tax increases in order to pay a minimum of $390 million for the program over the first four years.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that a similar plan as proposed by the OHCA, which is now in effect in Arkansas, would cost taxpayers nearly $800 million more than traditional Medicaid expansion.
The OHCA is trying to sell lawmakers on the idea that the new entitlement program won’t see any enrollment growth or any medical cost growth over a four-year period.
What the OHCA isn’t telling policymakers, the most vulnerable Oklahomans, and taxpayers is even more concerning. Internal OHCA data reveals that a mere $10 million – at most – is needed to maintain provider rates for nursing homes to be sure vulnerable elderly Oklahomans are not displaced. So the OHCA and proponents are merely using the elderly as a human shield.