The fee was never intended to fully cover the cost of expansion, so the state will have to find more money from somewhere to cover the rest, said Sen. Greg McCortney, R-Ada.
Already a hard sell to a Republican-controlled Legislature, the state’s financial outlook has some lawmakers questioning the timing of the expansion. Stitt wants to expand Medicaid on July 1 as part of his SoonerCare 2.0 plan, which he devised as an alternative to State Question 802.
SQ 802 asks voters to enshrine Medicaid expansion in the state’s constitution, and it would have to take effect by July 1, 2021.
“Between not knowing how much (Medicaid expansion) costs now and not really having an opportunity to thoroughly vet exactly what the long term plan is, I’m personally in favoring of slowing down and kind of putting the brakes on it right now,” McCortney said.
Behind the scenes, negotiations with the state’s hospitals continue.
But in the months since negotiations started, the COVID-19 crisis has dramatically changed the financial picture for Oklahoma hospitals.
Following an executive order from Stitt, hospitals had to put elective surgeries and minor medical procedures on hold for about a month to be able to free up hospital beds for an anticipated flood of coronavirus patients.
“The budget downturn related to the COVID-19 virus certainly puts financial strains not only on the state but also our hospital members,” Oklahoma Hospital Association President Patti Davis said in a statement. “As hospitals have scaled back elective surgeries and procedures in preparation for a surge of COVID-19 patients, the financial situation for most hospitals has changed significantly over the past month.