EDITORIAL: Medicaid cost concerns are valid
"While Medicaid expansion currently stops at a 90 percent federal match, we cannot assume that it will remain this high forever," Stitt said. "The estimated
Oklahomans need look no further than this year's budget to see examples. To maintain existing programs to train doctors and provide health care to children, lawmakers must spend
Changing federal matching rates and broken federal promises are both routine. Former President
Even if the state's portion of Medicaid expansion costs doesn't rise, the
Every dollar spent on Medicaid expansion is a dollar that doesn't go to other needs like schools, roads or public safety. And voter rejection of a 2016 sales tax increase shows limited public appetite for the kind of broad-based tax increases required to avoid such tradeoffs.
The real debate is not simply whether one supports Medicaid expansion, but whether one believes Medicaid expansion should be a higher priority than school funding increases or other causes. And, beyond fiscal considerations, debate should also focus on this question: Does Medicaid expansion improve health outcomes? Much research has found little real improvement.
One doesn't have to agree with Stitt's argument, but any response should involve more than whistling past the graveyard.
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