Inman Hopeful State Will Accept ObamaCare Dollars And Expand Medicaid
Oklahoma House Minority Leader Scott Inman hopeful for Medicaid expansion
by Rick Green, NewsOK.com
State House Minority Leader Scott Inman said Tuesday he maintains hope Gov. Mary Fallin and the Legislature will find a way to accept billions of dollars offered by the federal government to provide medical care to nearly 180,000 low-income Oklahomans.
However, Fallin’s office quickly reiterated its opposition to taking Medicaid expansion funds offered through the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Under the law, the federal government will pay 100 percent of the expansion costs for the first three years and then a declining percentage until 2020, when the federal share will stay at 90 percent. In Oklahoma, the federal government would pay an estimated $8.6 billion through 2022, while the state share through that period has been estimated at anywhere between $700 million and $1 billion.
Fallin has said the state can’t afford this. Total legislative appropriations in Oklahoma are about $7 billion a year.