Cuts to Medicaid Program – Oklahoma

Posted on December 11, 2009 by townsend

• $17 million cut from Medicaid program, By Kim Archer, December 11, 2009, Tulsa World: “The Oklahoma Health Care Authority board voted unanimously to cut nearly $17 million in the state’s Medicaid program Thursday, but left payments to providers such as hospitals, doctors and nursing homes untouched. But Mike Fogarty, chief executive officer, warned that state legislators have indicated additional cuts are likely so providers likely will face a 1 percent reduction in Medicaid payments. ‘If and when this board meets again to discuss more cuts, provider rates will unavoidably be on the table,’ he said. ‘Additional cuts will take us into muscle.’ Cuts to patients – the agency serves about 20 percent of the state’s population – include such things as prescription co-payment increases and a cap on outpatient mental health services…”
• State hit with cuts to SoonerCare, By April Wilkerson, December 11, 2009, Journal Record: “Cuts to the state’s SoonerCare health insurance were made official Thursday, but the program may face further reductions before the fiscal year ends. Members of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority voted to approve cuts that will affect SoonerCare members when they go to the dentist, get a prescription filled, open their wallets to make a co-payment and more. SoonerCare is the state’s Medicaid program and provides health care to nearly 700,000 elderly, disabled and children of low-income families. The cuts were required when the state mandated a 5-percent budget reduction earlier this year, which the OHCA accommodated by trimming $9.8 million. But on Nov. 1, another 5-percent reduction was required, so the OHCA began shaving another $16.8 million…”