ACTION ALERT | SB131
Insurance companies accused of GREED as well as BRIBING, BILKING and OVERBILLING Medicaid are not going to improve mental health and addiction rates among Oklahoma's most vulnerable citizens.
Ask Your Legislator to Support ✔️ the Oklahomans Caring for Oklahomans Act (SB131)
SB131, authored by Representative Marcus McEntire (R-District 50) and Senator Jessica Garvin (R-District 43), directs the Oklahoma Health Care Authority to create, implement and administer its own managed care program. Please contact your legislator today and ask them to support this important bill that will keep $2 billion in Oklahoma and out of the hands of out-of-state insurance companies.
🦠 People Are Hurting Like Never Before. Oklahoma Should Not Introduce Privatized Managed Care During a Pandemic and At The Same Time As Medicaid Expansion.
Prior to the Pandemic, one in five Oklahomans were struggling with mental illness. Today, that number has soared to a startling 40 percent. According to the Centers for Disease Control, drug overdose deaths have surged during the pandemic. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, by a wide margin, young people are experiencing these issues in greater numbers than their older counterparts.
This is no time to experiment and possibly upend the entire mental health care system.
Moreover, on June 30, 2020, the Oklahoma Medicaid Expansion Initiative, State Question 802, passed by a majority vote to expand Medicaid eligibility to adults ages 19-64 whose income is near or below the federal poverty level. Accordingly, about 200,000 Oklahomans between 18 and under 65 now qualify for Medicaid benefits and are thus able to access treatment for the problems and addictions that ravage their lives. Unfortunately, moving to a Medicaid managed care system will not give legislators the opportunity to evaluate the impact of Medicaid expansion on Oklahoma’s healthcare outcomes.
👩⚕️ Privatizing Managed Care Will Increase Costs, Ration Care
Oklahoma’s mental health system is a managed and pay-for-performance system, which delivers the highest level of care and excellent outcomes at a reduced cost through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health.
💰 Privatized managed care will increase the cost of care using unnecessary taxpayer dollars.
Managed Care will bring corporate middlemen to Oklahoma increasing the cost of administration from 4 percent under the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority to 15 percent. We do not need corporations making a profit from mental healthcare and substance abuse treatment services for the poorest and most vulnerable people in the state.
🥺 Managed Care Companies Have Failed in Oklahoma.
Oklahoma has attempted to implement Medicaid managed care in the past, and it has failed every time. Oklahoma’s population is small, and many uninsured individuals have costly untreated chronic medical conditions. These realities make it risky for Medicaid managed care organizations to achieve the profit margins they desire. Eventually, these corporations managed care organizations to achieve the profit margins they desire. Eventually, these corporations will reduce covered benefits or ask for more money from the state, which results in rationed care and/or higher taxes or reduced public benefits in other areas. In addition, research shows that Medicaid managed care companies in other states have failed to produce outcomes and have increased costs while reducing care.
🧠 Privatized Managed Care Jeopardizes Oklahoma’s Community Mental Health System.
Oklahoma cannot afford to let corporate middlemen make a profit from the nonprofit community mental health system. The fallout for this will be a reduced number of mental health and substance abuse treatment providers. These non-profit agencies already operate on thin margins. Cuts in reimbursement will result in terminated employees, less services to the vulnerable and in some cases the closure of these businesses.