Stitt is `really really close' on health plan
Gov. Kevin St it ts aid Friday he is close to publicly releasing his healthcare plan that center son some form of a Medicaid block grant. “I' m not
really ready to roll that out publicly, but we're getting really really close,” Stitt told reporters.
The governor said he was in Washington, D. C ., on Thursday to meet with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma.
Stitt said the meeting was to lay out the framework of his health care plan “to get them on board early.”
If the governor' s plan revolves around a Medicaid block grant, it could drastically change how Oklahoma funds its Medicaid program, called SoonerCare.
Oklahoma would almost certainly need federal approval from CMS in order to switch to a block grant-funding model.
Last month, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority hired a Medicaid consultant to help Stitt finalize his health care plan.
Stitt, who opposes straight Medicaid expansion, is working on a healthcare plan he hopes will rival proposed State Question 802, which asks voters to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma and will almost certainly be on the ballot next year.
“I' m hearing Oklahoma people,” Stitt said. “They want more federal dollars in the system, and I'm going to have a more fiscally conservative plan on how to pay for it and also tap some federal dollars.”
St it ts aid he does not intend to put his health care plan on the ballot opposite SQ 802. Some have suggested that could be the best
way for the governor to draw votes away f rom the Medicaid expansion
question. Oklahoma' s governor has the power to pick when state questions come up for a vote.
But Stitt said he intends to have a health care plan in place before Medicaid expansion comes up for a vote.
The governor said he's taking the temperature of legislators to see if they will back his health care plan.
Stitt wouldn't necessarily need the Legislature's approval to move forward with a
Medicaid block grant. But Republican leg isl ators, who spent part of the year diving into Oklahoma's health care problems, may have their own ideas on what should be included in a health care plan.