Before COVID-19 hit Oklahoma and shattered expectations for the year, numerous ballot initiative petitions related to the future of cannabis (and related criminal justice reform measures) were filed. The acrimonious debate about them all but subsided once the novel coronavirus reached the state, but all of them have been working their way through court challenges […]
Medicaid
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Chicken-Fried News: Too little, too late
It’s been nearly a decade since the Affordable Care Act provided Oklahoma the opportunity to receive a 9 to 1 match in federal dollars for expanding Medicaid, and still the Republican-led Legislature has done nothing. Oklahoma remains one of only 14 states holding out on expanding Medicaid. Expansion would cover more than 200,000 currently uninsured […]
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Chicken-Fried News: H2OMG
Welcome to another hilarious edition of Oklahoma’s Wackiest Criminals. This week, we bring you the weird tale of the Warr Acres “water worshipper,” a man KFOR reported has allegedly been entering businesses and churches for more than a decade, turning on the water and leaving — LOL, WTF. Most recently, the man reportedly walked into […]
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Health gap
Oklahomans throughout the state are urging lawmakers to expand health care coverage before the legislative session ends. Various organizations within Coalition to Expand Coverage came together to host Rally for Coverage April 24 at the state Capitol. Oklahoma is one of 14 states that has not accepted federal funds for Medicaid expansion. Expanded coverage would […]
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Commentary: Care giving
President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) provided for expansion of Medicaid on a state-by-state basis, and since 2014, 37 states and the District of Columbia have approved expanding Medicaid coverage to persons making below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Newly elected Gov. Kevin Stitt, who wants to run Oklahoma like a business, […]
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Oklahoma turnaround
Oklahoma’s 28th governor took the oath of office last week, right before giving an inaugural address that echoed many of his campaign promises. But beyond getting a fresh face, Oklahomans want Gov. Kevin Stitt to look at issues that might be outside his agenda. Mary Fallin was Oklahoma’s governor for the past eight years. Much […]
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Declining health
A damning statistic has been making headlines across the nation since its release in November. According to a nearly decade-long study conducted by researchers at Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, for the first time since 2008, the number of uninsured children across the United States has increased. “The nation’s many years of progress […]
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Complex mandate
In January, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), with encouragement from the White House, announced that it would allow states to mandate work requirements for able-bodied Medicaid recipients to receive benefits and released guidelines for how those mandates should look. Four months later, Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill that requires the […]
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Deep cut
Oklahoma will soon hire a private contractor to crack down on Medicaid fraud, identifying people who might no longer be eligible for the low-income health program and sending recommendations for benefits cancelation. It’s unclear how many of the nearly 800,000 Oklahomans, most of whom are children, would lose health care coverage under the new law, […]
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Letters to the Editor: July 5, 2017
On page 39: gigantic Medicaid cuts — seniors in nursing homes would be thrown out and millions of children will lose health care. On page 136: Waivers by states to not cover essential health care like maternity, mental health, etc.