Oklahoma needs the Affordable Care Act

Commentary
Craig W. Jones
Many people know that Medicaid was passed alongside Medicare as part of the 1965 Social Security Act. But I would wager that very few Oklahomans know that Oklahoma was one of only six states to be the first to participate in Medicaid when it launched in 1966. Oklahoma was the only Southern state among those six. Another 27 states signed on later that year, 11 more in 1967, and another eight states (all Southern) in 1970. Seems the new social program at the time was a bit controversial.