Dates set for Medicaid petition

Supporters will have from July 31 to Oct. 28 to collect nearly 178,000 valid signatures

Medicaid expansion supporters can begin gathering signatures for an initiative petition calling for expanded access to health coverage on July 31.

Oklahoma Secretary of State Michael Rogers set the final day in July as the beginning of the 90-day window in which signature gathering can occur.

In order for supporters of Medicaid expansion to get the issue on the ballot in 2020, they will have to collect nearly 178,000 valid signatures between July 31 and 5 p.m. Oct. 28.

Oklahoma's secretary of state, who will verify the signatures that are turned in, gets to set the dates for signature gathering.

Amber England, a spokeswoman for Oklahomans Decide Healthcare, which is backing the petition said, she' s optimistic that the coalition will be able to get most of the required signatures through volunteer signature-gathering efforts.

Since Oklahomans Decide Healthcare launched and due

to the media coverage surrounding the legal challenge to the initiative petition, Oklahomans have been reaching out to the group asking how they can get involved and how they can help, England said.

“We have been laying that infrastructure for a volunteer signature effort over the last couple weeks and we'll be ready to go with that on Day One,” she said.

Obviously, there will be a large signaturegathering presence in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, but Oklahomans Decide Healthcare plans to collect signatures from communities all across the state so Oklahomans understand this is their chance to use their voice son the issue, England said.

If the coalition isn' t able to recruit enough volunteer signature gatherers, the group is prepared to pay people to gather signatures, she said.

“We' re going to do whatever it takes to get the 178,000 signatures, so if we have to do some paid signature gathering, we will,” she said.

If approved for the ballot, State Question 802 would ask voters to amend Oklahoma' s constitution to expand Medicaid to low-income adults between the ages of 18 and 65 whose income does not exceed 133% of the federal poverty level. If passed, the state question would expand coverage to more than 100,000 uninsured Oklahomans.

Republican legislative leaders and Gov. Kevin St it top pose straight Medicaid expansion, as called for in the initiative petition, and are taking their own steps to come up with an alternative health care plan.

Straight Medicaid expansion does not include conditions favored by many conservative lawmakers such as work requirements or requiring Medicaid participants to pay a small portion of their premiums.

Stitt earlier this year vowed to craft a health care plan to present this fall. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are poised to launch a joint healthcare working group, the details of which have not yet been released, to tackle Medicaid expansion.

Oklahoma is one of 14 states that has not expanded Medicaid.