OKLAHOMA CITY â If Gov. Kevin Stitt can follow through with his plans, the stateâs Medicaid recipients may find themselves dealing with private companies in the future.
Medicaid benefits in Oklahoma are dispersed through SoonerCare. Stitt wants to privatize SoonerCare, and officials including Secretary of Health Kevin Corbett say the controversial effort was spurred by Oklahoma votersâ insistence that the state accept the federal Medicaid expansion.
On Jan. 29, state officials awarded $2.1 billion in health insurance contracts and the bulk of Oklahomaâs Medicaid program to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, Humana Healthy Horizons, Oklahoma Complete Health â a subsidiary of Centene â and United Healthcare. They become effective Oct. 1.
Sean Murphy
Associated Press
As the coronavirus swept across Oklahoma and the nation last spring, Gov. Kevin Stitt s office was inundated with correspondence from frightened residents seeking stricter lockdowns to control the spread of the virus. We can bring back lost jobs. We can re-strengthen the economy. We cannot, however, regain the lives of those we have already lost and will continue to lose if we fail to get this right, Tulsa resident Nate Morris wrote in an April 2020 letter to Stitt signed by 1,200 people.
At the same time, the governor was also weighing requests from dozens of business leaders asking him to make sure their businesses stayed open. The Associated Press reviewed nearly 9,000 documents released by the governor s office in response to an open records request that show the delicate balance Stitt and his team tried to walk during the early stages of the pandemic.
Documents Show Oklahomans Urged Stitt To Impose Lockdowns publicradiotulsa.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from publicradiotulsa.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Documents show Oklahomans urged Stitt to impose lockdowns apnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from apnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.