Dive Brief:
- Oklahoma is considering expanding Medicaid after years of resisting Obamacare due to a massive $1.3 billion budget deficit. GOP leaders are even considering a tax hike to help cover the state's costs to avoid potential hospital and nursing home closings.
- Gov. Mary Fallin (R) is pushing the plan forward, which includes partial funding from a $1.50 tax per cigarette pack, that would switch 175,000 current Medicaid enrollees to the federal health exchange.
- This would allow the state to increase coverage of the uninsured and therefore provide the extra funding available under federal law. The federal government would cover 95% of the state's Medicaid costs starting next year.
Dive Insight:
The state has been hit hard by a declining oil industry and its Medicaid agency has warned a 25% pay cut was imminent - potentially forcing hospitals to close.
Conservative resistance to the plan remains strong, however, with groups like Americans for Prosperity, launching a campaign against it.
There are currently 19 states that have not adopted Medicaid expansion. Other states in the midwest that haven't expanded Medicaid besides Oklahoma include Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri.