ACTION ALERT: Dear Oklahoma Legislators
Insurance companies do not prevent heart disease, lung disease, stroke, diabetes, influenza, mental illness, or addiction.
💰 $2 billion of the State’s $8.4 billion budget to four private insurance companies.
The Alliance of Mental Health Providers of Oklahoma opposes Governor Kevin Stitt picking out-of-state insurance companies to take over Oklahoma’s high-performing Medicaid agency, the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority. We join nearly two dozen organizations opposing the move to commercial managed care, a unilateral move by Stitt to bequeath $2 billion of the State’s $8.4 billion budget to four private insurance companies without legislative approval.
Please do whatever you can to stop commercial managed care in Oklahoma. Please prevent insurance companies from becoming $2 billion richer on the backs of poor Oklahomans. And let us be honest. That is what managed care companies are: profit-driven insurance companies.
🤒 Insurance Companies Do Not Heal or Rescue
Despite what the Governor says, no insurance company is going to rescue Oklahoma from being 46th in the nation for health outcomes. Corporate middlemen do not prevent heart disease, lung disease, stroke, diabetes, influenza, mental illness, or addiction.
🚨 Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Psychologists, Pharmacists, Paramedics, Social Workers ++ Oppose Manage Care
The people who are treating, curing, and preventing these diseases are the very people opposing commercial managed care – medical doctors, dentists, nurses, psychologists, pharmacists, paramedics, social workers and many more.
⚰️ Depression, Anxiety, Addiction, Childhood Trauma
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Oklahomans have faced unbelievable sickness, sorrow, and economic hardships. The virus has claimed so much of what we hold dear – people, places, things. To make matters worse, we are now in the worst mental health crisis of our lifetimes. According to an independent think tank, the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative, depression, anxiety, addiction, and childhood trauma are at unprecedented levels in our state. We are also seeing a sharp increase in opioid deaths.
🐟 Fishing for Solutions in the Same Old Pond
Moving to commercial managed care is a high-stress, risky transition for healthcare providers. Doing it during a pandemic is unthinkable. Moreover, independent studies including a GAO report, indicate that managed care is likely to fail in Oklahoma as it did in the 1990s. We keep fishing for solutions from the same pond hoping for a different catch. It is not going to work. The only bounty it is going to yield is a $2 billion bounty for out-of-state insurance companies.
⚕️ We Serve Oklahoma’s Most Vulnerable Citizens
Finally, the Alliance of Mental Health Providers of Oklahoma are the state’s safety net providers. We provide mental health care and substance abuse treatment services to Oklahoma’s most vulnerable citizens including those who live at or below the poverty level. We serve in 57 of the state’s 77 counties. Every day, we witness the devastating consequences of substance abuse and serious mental illness. We need more treatment in Oklahoma, not less. Please contact us if we can answer your questions.