Oklahoma becomes first state to expand Medicaid during pandemic

Oklahoma officials on July 1 began enrolling members eligible for expanded Medicaid. The initiative is the result of voters narrowly approving a ballot initiative on June 30 that expanded Medicaid to cover more low-income residents.

Oklahoma was the first state to vote on expanding Medicaid since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Missouri is scheduled to vote on the issue in August.

The vote disrupts Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s plan to make the state a test case for the Trump administration’s Medicaid block-grant demonstration.

Oklahoma has the second-highest uninsured rate in the country behind Texas. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority projected that more than 200,000 new Medicaid enrollees may sign up due to the ballot initiative’s passage, at a total annual cost of about $1.3 billion.

The estimated state share would be about $164 million. But those numbers could be considerably higher given the number of Oklahomans who have lost their jobs and work-related health insurance because of the economic shutdown during the pandemic. Total Medicaid enrollment was 833,302 in May, according to the most recent state data.

The state Legislature is expected to attempt again to increase hospital fees from 2.5% to 4%, generating about $134 million annually to pay for the expansion.