Medicaid expansion opponents seek to bar views of medical providers in court case

June 01-- Jun. 1--A conservative organization hoping to kill a proposed Medicaid expansion question wants to block the state's largest medical groups from weighing in on the current legal fight.

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs urged the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Thursday not to accept input from doctors, nurses and hospitals that support Medicaid expansion and the proposed state ballot question.

The council, a conservative think tank in Oklahoma City, argued that the medical providers wanted to raise issues outside the scope of the council's protest to the proposed state question. The council also argued that it would not have time to respond to the medical groups because the case is on a fast track.

The groups seeking to file a friend-of-the-court brief are the Oklahoma State Medical Association, the Oklahoma Hospital Association, the Oklahoma Nurses Association, the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association and the Saint Francis Health System.

They asked the Supreme Court for permission to submit their views about the petition filed in April to put a question on a statewide ballot next year to expand Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance for low-income people.

The organizations said they "represent medical providers and personnel most affected by the state's refusal to accept federal Medicaid expansion dollars made available by the Affordable Care Act."

They said they wanted to address "the real-world consequences if the initiative petition is stricken, and to respond directly to the myriad of incorrect or misleading statements put forth by the (council).

"Contrary to the arguments advanced by (the council), the practical result of a successful initiative petition would be great economic and social benefit to the state."

The proposed state question would amend Oklahoma's constitution to expand Medicaid eligibility "to certain low-income adults between the ages of 18 and 65 whose income does not exceed 133 percent of the federal poverty level."

The petition seeks to put the question before Oklahoma voters in the next general election, which would be November 2020. Supporters would have to gather nearly 178,000 signatures to qualify the question for the ballot.

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, which opposes Medicaid expansion, filed a protest earlier this month challenging the wording of the petition and the constitutionality.

The Oklahoma attorney general's office said in a court filing last week that the was council was correct about the wording but not about the constitutionality. Petition organizers have plenty of time to fix the wording and collect signatures before the November 2020 election, the AG's office said.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on June 18 and rule later on whether the petition can move forward.

While asking if they could file their views with the Supreme Court, the medical groups laid out their case to the justices for why Medicaid should be expanded.

They said there is "strong evidence that expanding the state's Medicaid program to thousands of new beneficiaries will use federal dollars to fund many health programs currently funded by state appropriations and eventually may conserve state dollars."

The medical groups also argued that Oklahoma's refusal to expand Medicaid has contributed to "the downward spiral of hospitals, including those in rural areas."

Oklahoma is one of 14 states that has not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

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