PAC forms to fight Medicaid expansion
A political action committee formed this week seeks to fight a state question to expand Medicaid in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma state director for Americans for Prosperity is serving as the chairman of the Vote No on 802 Association — a PAC that plans to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight the state question that will be on the ballot on June 30.
Expanding Medicaid will strain Oklahoma's already stretchedthin state budget, Oklahoma state Director
John Tidwell said in a statement.
“State Question 802, which will force Medicaid expansion, will overwhelm our already struggling state budget and hurt those that the program was intended to help,” he said. “There is no question that overburdening an already fragile system will lead to cuts of core services we all rely on and trigger tax increases at a time when Oklahomans can least afford additional financial burdens.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt, who opposes SQ 802, recently scrapped his own plans to expand Medicaid on July 1. Stitt said he worried the rising unemployment rate would dramatically increase the number of people who qualified for Medicaid, which would increase the costs of the program.
The Vote No on 802 Association will send out mailers directly to voters, release targeted digital advertisements and take other grassroots approaches to try and persuade voters to oppose SQ 802.
Yes on 802 Campaign Manager Amber England said a record number of
Oklahomans helped get SQ 802 on the ballot.
"It's not a surprise there are special interest groups emerging in the eleventh hour of the campaign that will, no doubt, attempt to use fear tactics and spread mistruths to deny health care to Oklahomans and leave our rural hospitals vulnerable to closure," she said. "That's what they've been doing now for almost a decade. Fortunately, Oklahomans will get to decide this issue for ourselves on June 30.”
The Yes on 802 campaign started airing ads last month to galvanize support for the state question. The Oklahoma Hospital Association is among the groups financially supporting the Yes on 802 campaign, although the campaign has not yet been required to publicly release information on its funding.
Nearly three dozen health, religious, civic engagement organizations and other groups have endorsed SQ 802, including the Oklahoma State Medical Association, Oklahoma Nurses Association, Oklahoma Education Association, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber and several of the state's largest Native American tribes.
SQ 802 seeks to expand Medicaid to cover more low-income Oklahomans. The proposed question would amend Oklahoma's constitution to expand Medicaid to cover adults under age 65 whose income does not exceed 133% of the federal poverty level.
A new poll from Amber Integrated showed 60% of 500 likely voters surveyed supported SQ 802. The poll conducted from June 3-4 showed 23% of those surveyed oppose the question and 17% were undecided.
Americans for Prosperity, a national organization created by David and Charles Koch, supports conservative candidates and causes.