OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s Medicaid expansion provision will bring in $1.3 billion in federal health care dollars, generate $2.3 billion in new economic activity and create $123 million in additional sales and income tax revenue, a report from the organization Families USA said.
Detailed in an eight-page analysis, the report – issued in June – also predicted the proposal would create 26,000 new Oklahoma jobs.
Oklahoma’s new expansion law opens Medicaid eligibility to all adults ages 19 to 64 years old who make up to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. The new law will provide coverage for individuals making up to $16,970 or $34,846 for a family of four.
Data from the American Medical Association indicates that 14.2 percent of Oklahoma’s population has no health insurance. This percentage is second only to the state of Texas, which has a 17.7 percent rate.
Medicaid expansion is expected to provide coverage for some 200,000 Oklahomans, the AMA said. Officials predict that this number could increase by another 50,000 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nationwide, around 47.5 million people are at risk of losing their employer-based insurance nationwide because of the pandemic.
The Oklahoma Policy Institute, a left-leaning thinktank, echoed the AMA, saying Medicaid expansion will improve health care in the Sooner State.
In a posting on its website, the organization said the new Medicaid expansion law will improve access to regular health care and reduce the use of emergency departments. “New members will see reduced out-of-pocket costs and greater financial stability. Medicaid expansion also empowers participants to better look for work and to keep work once they find it,” the AMA’s post said.
The leader of the Oklahoma Senate’s Democratic Caucus said the state’s new law will help keep taxes paid by Oklahomans in Oklahoma.
“No longer will Oklahoma taxpayers send their money to Washington to fund Medicaid expansion in other states,” Democratic Leader
Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, said. “The people of Oklahoma played a critical role in making this happen.”
The Senate’s Republican Floor Leader, Kim David of Porter, estimated Medicaid expansion will cost the state about $164 million. To fund that, the legislature’s Republican leadership wants to change the way the state’s Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund is distributed and earmark a large portion of those funds to pay for Medicaid.
Currently, 75 percent of Oklahoma’s tobacco settlement funds are placed in the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET). The remaining 25 percent is split between the Legislature and the Attorney General’s office.
State Question 814 would change the percentages, sending 75 precent to the legislature 25 precent going to endowment fund. The proposal would also require the legislature’s share be used to fund the Medicaid program. Funds set aside for the Attorney General’s office would be paid out of the legislature’s portion.
Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a right-leaning think tank, told CNHI news service that there were better ways to use TSET’s assets. Small said he supports either dissolving the trust or putting a cap on its funding.
“There’s no reason why such a significant amount of funding would be spent on a tourist attraction in Oklahoma City (rather) than producing the next generation of physicians who would treat Oklahomans,” Small told CNHI.
Oklahoma lawmakers are expected to finalize a plan for Medicaid expansion during the 2021 legislative session.