Â鶹ŮÓÅ

The head of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority briefed state leaders Thursday on a plan to provide health insurance to 175,000 Oklahomans who are currently uninsured. The proposal presented by Nico Gomez, chief executive officer of the authority, would also stabilize Medicaid provider rates, while moving 175,000 children and pregnant women from Medicaid to private insurance. It would also create a new Insure Oklahoma program that would cover adults ages 19 to 64 who have incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty level. They would have a choice of commercial insurance plans and would pay premiums based on their income. (Green, 3/31)

Gomez said the proposal still needs to be fully vetted and would require both federal approval and a state investment of around $100 million. ... Republican legislative leaders expressed some support for the proposal, which they described as an alternative to Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma. (3/31)

The third part of the plan would restore the Medicaid reimbursement rate to 86.5 percent of Medicare. Earlier this week, the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority proposed reducing the reimbursement rate to providers by 25 percent as a result of the estimated $1.3 billion general revenue shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year. (McCleland, 3/31)

Oklahoma State Medical Association leaders have voted unanimously to urge members to consider dropping out of Medicaid. The association’s executive committee took the unanimous vote on Wednesday following an announcement earlier in the week by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority that Medicaid rates could be cut by as much as 25 percent effective June 1. (Hoberock, 4/1)