Medicaid proposal meant to rival Gov. Stitt's plan for managed care faces uncertain future
May 9—Questions loom at the
As the Stitt administration continues to move ahead with efforts to outsource care management for most Medicaid recipients to four insurance giants, the
Whether the bill will be heard in the
Asked recently about the status of SB 131, Senate Majority Floor Leader
A proponent of the governor's third-party managed care plan, David has significant sway in which bills get heard on the
Sen.
"I'm not opposed to managed care, really, I'm just opposed to doing it with companies from out of state," Garvin said. "With my professional experience as a nursing home administrator, I work with managed care companies every single day and they've never really been beneficial for patient care."
In contracting with the
With
Expressing concerns that patient care may deteriorate under the proposed changes, a coalition of hospital leaders and medical providers oppose Stitt's plan, dubbed SoonerSelect.
SoonerSelect comes with a
Stitt believes SoonerSelect will improve care for Medicaid recipients and provide budget consistency for the state after years of increasing Medicaid costs have made the program one of the state's most expensive.
"The governor, the legislature, we have a right to say how that
Proponents of third-party managed care say health insurance companies have more resources and experience to provide patients more coordinated care, which can help Oklahomans prevent or manage severe and potentially costly health problems
Rep.
SB 131 would require the
Medicaid recipients would enroll in a health plan at the office of their primary care physician where the doctor would conduct an annual health and wellness assessment.
On a vote of 73-17, SB 131 passed the House last month with a veto-proof margin.
The bill, which will likely be vetoed if it makes it to the governor's desk, does not explicitly bar the state from moving forward with third-party managed care.
"SB131 purports to direct OHCA to coordinate managed care internally," according to a statement from the agency. "While we have an incredible team at OHCA, we do not have the amount of personnel, the infrastructure or the technology needed to truly coordinate care for SoonerCare members as compared with our partners who have decades of experience producing healthier member outcomes."
In a recent interview, House Speaker
McCall, who voted in favor of SB 131, said legislators believed it was important to have a conversation about the future of health care in
"It's not personal toward the governor at all," McCall said. "I'd hope that the governor would understand and see that lawmakers, their job is to make law and set state policy, and members of the House were just responding to their constituencies."
Instead of advancing SB 131, state lawmakers could opt out of funding SoonerSelect through the state budget process. The contracts with managed care companies are contingent upon funding from the
Stitt has implied SB 131 is akin to socialized health care, a response one Republican legislator called a "blatant lie."
After the House passed SB 131 with bipartisan support, Stitt took aim at the
"It is disappointing that in the dead of night, 57
Following Stitt's news release, Rep.
Five or six phone calls later, West said he had to try and correct the governor's narrative.
"It reminded me, (Stitt) uses the term all the time 'we're playing D.C. political games,'" West said. "That is something that looked like a press release that one of the members of the federal delegation would put out against a Democrat. Instead, it was my Republican governor putting it out against 57 Republican members who were all getting slammed in their districts."
Socialized health care is when the government operates health care facilities and employs doctors and other health care professionals.
Although Medicaid is a government-run health care program,
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