Credit: Brad Gregg The Affordable Care Act, you might recall, allows states to get federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage for people earning less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Such a move would provide health insurance for almost 200,000 uninsured Oklahomans, but Gov. Mary Fallin rejected the federal dollars late last year. […]
Medicaid
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Flatlined
Hundreds of Oklahomans in need of free dental care packed the Oklahoma Mission of Mercy in Lawton last month. Photo: Clifton Adcock On a cold February evening at the Comanche County Fairgrounds in Lawton, a steady stream of people entered the building and walked between the cattle gates erected on either side herding them to […]
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Right-thinking governors
Democrats have been arguing for quite a while that Medicaid expansion is the only fiscally responsible path forward. Now their argument has been endorsed by Kasich, who has impeccable conservative credentials, since he is a former chairman of the House Budget Committee and a former Fox News analyst. Kasich built his political identity arguing for […]
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Coverage controversy
Protesters push for Medicaid expansion at a Feb. 5 rally at the state Capitol. Credit: Mark Hancock Oklahoma currently ranks near the bottom among states in terms of wellness. Both opponents and advocates of an expansion of the state’s Medicaid program say action is required to improve the state’s health. Fallin and other state leaders […]
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A tax cut to die for
Fallin claims income tax cuts will make us more “competitive,” but our economy (fueled by federal spending and high oil and agriculture prices) grew at the third-highest rate nationally in the past decade. Betting our future on continued high oil prices is the definition of insanity. Texas is ranked No. 1 nationally as a business-friendly […]
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Health matters
Dr.Fred Loper examines a patient at the Good Shepherd clinic. Credit: Mark Hancock “The end goal is for each person with health care needs to be directed or become a patient at the most appropriate place for them,” said Pam Cross, executive director of The Health Alliance for the Uninsured, a local nonprofit. The network […]
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Fallin fails
In 2007, Fallin voted against raising the minimum wage above $5.15 per hour, where it had been for 10 years. Then she opposed House Resolution 4, which gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug manufacturers for lower prescription drug prices. In other words, she voted to turn pricing of our prescription drugs over to pharmaceutical […]
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Decisions of politics and compassion
We know what is causing the pain. Jane has a bad gallbladder that is full of stones — easy to fix. In the hospital Friday morning for surgery, home Friday afternoon, back at work Monday morning. Like hundreds of thousands of hardworking Oklahomans, Jane has no insurance and no way to pay for the surgery. […]
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Medi-can’t
However, with Gov. Mary Fallin’s announcement last month that the state would not expand Medicaid, George will have to stick with her current plan for a while longer. That plan: Don’t get sick. “I tried with DHS (Oklahoma Department of Human Services) to get some kind of medical (insurance), but they turned me down because […]
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A shameful turn
I would love to see the estimated 150,000 uninsured Oklahomans who could have access to health insurance through Medicaid expansion arrive on the steps of the state Capitol for Fallin to meet firsthand. Let her try to explain how it is reasonable and humane for them to remain uninsured in order for her to score […]