Medicaid expansion brings better health outcomes to nearly 300,000 Oklahomans
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — In a new report, the Oklahoma Policy Institute highlighted the impacts of Medicaid, or SoonerCare expansion in the state.
There's around 1.2M people on Medicaid in Oklahoma, and Friday marks one year since the expansion.
In 2020, Oklahomans voted on State Question 802, which was an initiative petition that gave voters the choice to expand Medicaid to cover low-income adults.
The question nearly passed with 50.45% of the vote.
In July of 2021, the coverage was broadened. A year later, the Policy Institute said Oklahomans are reaping the benefits.
"Medicaid expansion did exactly what voters knew it would when they passed the ballot initiative," Emma Morris, the Institute's Health Care Analyst said. "We've seen immense coverage gains across the state, and then subsequent economic benefits throughout our local communities."
Oklahoma is closing the gap on those without insurance.
The OK Policy Institute said previously if Oklahomans didn't make less than around 45% of the federal poverty level to qualify for Medicaid, or more than 100% of the poverty level to qualify for marketplace coverage, they didn't have options.
But a year ago, the expansion changed that.
"Anyone in Oklahoma between the ages of 19-64 who makes less than 138% of the federal poverty level, which is about $18,000 for an individual, can qualify," Morris said.
The expansion of Medicaid has already brought direct impacts.
In data from the Oklahoma Health Care Authority and the U.S. Census Bureau, Oklahoma's uninsured rate has gone from 14% down to 9%.
That means nearly 300,000 people have benefited from the program since the expansion.
"Before Medicaid expansion we had the second highest uninsured rate," Morris said "Only Texas had a higher rate of un-insurance than we did. So dropping to this a little under 10% is a significant improvement."
The coverage reaches all parts of the state, both urban and rural.
Although the numbers show that the expansion has decreased those without insurance across every racial group, around 9% of Oklahomans still do not have coverage.
"We still have a ways to go," Morris said. "We still have a lot of folks in Oklahoma who don't have insurance, and a lot of folks who could have better insurance."
The Policy Institute has ideas on what else could be done in the future of expanding coverage.
Leaders at the organization said there's coverage gaps for pregnant and postpartum Oklahomans in particular.
For more information on Oklahoma's Medicaid program, you can click this link.
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