OCPA comments on Medicaid expansion petition

OCPA statement on Medicaid petition

OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 24, 2019)— Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, today said the delivery of initiative-petition signatures for a Medicaid expansion proposal marks only the beginning, not the end, of the expansion debate.

“Medicaid expansion would add up to 628,000 able-bodied adults to Oklahoma’s welfare rolls and cost state taxpayers as much as $374 million annually,” Small said. “At the same time, numerous experts have told a legislative working group that Medicaid expansion will do almost nothing to improve citizens’ health outcomes. And, based on what has occurred in other states, Medicaid expansion will primarily benefit wealthy urban hospitals while doing little for rural communities, which will continue to see hospitals close.

“Medicaid expansion only promises to generate the same poor health outcomes at a much higher taxpayer cost that forces the diversion of funds from schools and roads, tax increases, or both,” Small continued. “As Oklahomans learn these facts, and of the existence of fiscally responsible alternatives, I am confident they will reject this fatally flawed proposal, just as they have similar ballot initiatives put forth by liberal activists in recent years.”

Based in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs works to advance  principles and policies that support free enterprise, limited government, and individual initiative. For more information, go to www.ocpathink.org.