Excerpt from: MiamiOk (click for full article)
By now you are well aware that Gov. Mary Fallin has decided that Oklahoma will not participate in expansion of our Medicaid program, which would provide health care insurance for all Oklahomans making less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level.
For context, 133 percent of the federal poverty level for a family of four is $30,657. The cost of health insurance for this family of four averages $5,167 a year. It is simply unaffordable.
I have no doubt that Gov. Fallin made the right decision from a political standpoint. My emails and calls are overwhelmingly against the so called “Obama Care,” which is officially known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The fact is, now it is the law, whether we like it or not.
The federal reimbursement for expansion of Medicaid would have been 100 percent of the cost through 2016, and then gradually decreasing to 90 percent by 2020. This means the estimated cost to Oklahoma if 75 percent of those eligible were to participate (some estimate that only 57 percent would have signed up) would be $27 million in 2017 and increase to $56 million by 2020. This is a doable number.
Comments