The leader of the Cherokee Nation vowed to fight to protect Medicaid expansion as Republicans legislators move to make substantial changes to it.
Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. made the promise on Wednesday while addressing the full House and Senate chambers during his tribe’s annual advocacy day at the Capitol.
Hoskin said Medicaid expansion benefits the state’s economy and health outcomes.
“Sometimes friends have to level with each other about issues that may be difficult to talk about,” he told the state Senate. “I feel moved to talk about Medicaid expansion because I’ve seen what it does. I’ve seen that not only 250,000 Oklahomans receive health coverage from Medicaid expansion, I’ve seen what it means for the Cherokee people to have that choice.”
Lawmakers are considering two measures that would send state questions to the Aug. 25 ballot asking voters reconsider Medicaid expansion. The measures have cleared the House, but must still pass the Senate.
One resolution would move Medicaid expansion out of the Oklahoma Constitution and into state statute. Removing it from the Constitution would allow lawmakers to more easily make changes to the voter-approved measure.
The other bill would allow lawmakers to choose to not fund the program if the federal match dips below 90%. The current federal match is 90-10.
Legislative leaders have said the state cannot afford to continue paying for Medicaid expansion the way it is currently set up and that voters made a mistake enshrining it in the state Constitution.
“My conclusion isn’t (that) we can’t afford it,” Hoskin said to applause on the House floor. “My conclusion is that this state can’t afford to lose Medicaid expansion, and I will do everything I can to try to protect it.”
Hoskin said Medicaid expansion has created or supported at least 1,400 jobs in largely rural areas and creates an “unmistakable rippling effect” across their reservation.
“It will be unmistakable if Medicaid expansion comes to an end,” he said on the Senate floor. “We will build less health care.”
Hoskin said some of the Cherokee Nation’s biggest investments are in health care.
The Cherokee Nation has invested in scholarships, nursing schools, medical schools, new health care facilities, and partnerships with Oklahoma State University and University of Oklahoma to expand Oklahoma’s health care workforce, he said.
“We put it back in, every single penny, into the state of Oklahoma where it belongs,” Hoskin said of Medicaid dollars.
Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence.
