OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma health care officials will notify the federal government Friday that the state plans to expand Medicaid.
The Oklahoma Health Care Authority plans to submit paperwork allowing a Medicaid state plan amendment, said Baylee Lakey, a spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.
The amendment is the contract between the state and federal government that dictates the parameters of the Medicaid program. It will make about 180,000 uninsured Oklahomans eligible for insurance coverage, she said.
Lawmakers said Stitt apparently can file the paperwork without legislative approval or a funding mechanism. Stitt also doesn’t yet have to unveil any details of his keystone health care plan, SoonerCare 2.0.
“The state plan amendment is pretty much just check the box. Are you going to expand or not?” said state Sen. Greg Treat, president pro tem. “There doesn’t seem to be a restriction on his ability to check that box.”
Treat, R-Oklahoma City, said the amendment is merely the first step in Oklahoma’s expansion bid. He’s eagerly awaiting more specifics on Stitt’s plan.
Legislators continue to struggle to develop a plan to raise the nearly $150 million necessary to push SoonerCare 2.0 forward. They’re trying to figure out how to fund expansion without raising taxes or gutting the core services they’ve slowly bolstered over the past few years. The Legislature already has $85.5 million less to spend this year.
Stitt, meanwhile, is pitting his untested Medicaid expansion plans against popular citizen-led State Question 802. Later this year, voters will determine if they want traditional Medicaid expansion or Stitt’s alternative plan, which is not fully hashed out.
SoonerCare 2.0 involves using a controversial block grant program, charging premiums and establishing work requirements. Stitt said his plan gives the state unprecedented flexibility to develop a Medicaid plan for adults.
Critics, though, believe SoonerCare 2.0 is likely to face years of legal challenges, ultimately delaying health care access for hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans.
Under both plans, the state would be eligible for more than $1 billion in federal funds, but would have to contribute roughly $150 million.
Stitt has said he wants to begin enrolling 180,000 Oklahomans in July.
He still hasn’t decided when State Question 802 will appear on the ballot.
“People are tired of waiting,” said House Minority Leader Emily Virgin, D-Norman, in a statement. “The governor wants to do everything he can to keep Medicaid expansion out of the state constitution because he knows he can’t touch it once it’s constitutional law, which means he can’t take away health coverage from hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans who need it.”
But on the plus side, Virgin said, she’s glad Stitt and Republican lawmakers are finally seeing the need to expand Medicaid.
Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhi.com.