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Oklahoma Health Care Authority Submits First Step in Stitt's Medicaid Expansion Plan

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority on Friday submitted a state plan amendment seeking to expand SoonerCare eligibility.

SoonerCare is Oklahoma's Medicaid plan. The plan would make adults aged 19 to 64 at or below 133% of the federal poverty level eligible for SoonerCare as soon as July 1.

Gov. Kevin Stitt would then work to transition SoonerCare to the new Healthy Adult Opportunity Program, a capped-funding model recently announced by the Trump administration, and to enact restictions like work requirements and monthly premiums -- the plan he has dubbed SoonerCare 2.0.

"This is an important first step to ensuring we can implement SoonerCare 2.0 and get more of Oklahomans’ federal tax dollars back into our system," Stitt said in a news release. "Oklahoma is well positioned to be the first state in the nation to receive the Trump Administration’s waiver to achieve unprecedented flexibility and accountability in delivering Medicaid to our citizens, and I look forward to working with his administration in order to provide Oklahomans with a quality health care plan."

Stitt has still not set an election date for State Question 802, an initiative petition that would amend Oklahoma's constitution to expand Medicaid to adults making up to 138% of the federal poverty level, which is an estimated 200,000 people in Oklahoma. That plan would not include work requirements or premiums, and it would not be paid for through a capped-funding program.

"We are disappointed to hear that the Governor continues to push his personal plan for Oklahoma healthcare versus the vetted, proven, and citizen-backed strategy of full Medicaid expansion," said a statement issued by Oklahoma Policy Institute, a think tank that has endorsed SQ802. "Full details of the Governor’s plan have not been shared publicly. The few known elements of his plan are both untested and expected to face lengthy legal challenges if it moves forward."

Supporters submitted more than 300,000 signatures in November to qualify SQ802 for the ballot.

Stitt's SoonerCare 2.0 plan has been held up by disagreements over how to pay the state's estimated $150 million share of it. Stitt asked lawmakers to push through a funding plan by the end of this week, which did not happen.

Stitt wanted to raise a state fee on hospitals to help fund the expansion. Some lawmakers have proposed using tobacco settlement funds for it.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.