Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sent a letter to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s new chief executive, demanding answers from the agency on “failures within the managed Medicaid care system.”
Through a transition to managed care, or SoonerSelect, OHCA went from paying providers directly to paying private companies to coordinate some enrollees’ care.
The state contracted with the medical plans Humana Healthy Horizons, Aetna Better Health and Oklahoma Complete Health. They went live April 1, 2024.
Drummond argues in his letter to OHCA Director Clay Bullard that small, community-based providers caring for Oklahoma’s children are “being squeezed financially so that out-of-state corporations can profit.”
He said providers have detailed “several alarming trends,” including significant reductions in reimbursement for direct pediatric care, payment withholdings and bureaucratic delays.
“Without immediate correction, these failures will destroy Oklahoma’s pediatric network, leaving SoonerCare children across Oklahoma’s 77 counties without access to care,” Drummond said.
A spokesperson from the attorney general’s office said providers, some of whom have filed complaints with OHCA, brought these claims to Drummond. They said the recent complaints spurred this letter.
Drummond said managed care organizations have cited ongoing set-up delays “to rationalize their withholding of payments from providers.” Drummond said this is “wholly inadequate.”
“The organizations benefitted from a 15-month transition period, which ended in July along with payments,” Drummond said.
“Gov. Stitt’s managed care concept is an abject, systemic failure that more closely resembles the disastrous rollout of Obamacare than it does a healthcare panacea,” he added.
Drummond asked the agency to provide its contracts with the following managed care organizations:
- Aetna Medicaid Administrators LLC (Aetna Better Health of Oklahoma)
- Humana Inc. (Humana Health Horizons of Oklahoma)
- Centene Corp. (Oklahoma Complete Health).
Drummond also called on the agency to review provider reimbursement failures and identify measures to “cure the deficiencies described.”
“If the Authority fails to address the decrease in reimbursement and the failure of MCOs to timely reimburse providers, providers will shut their doors to Medicaid patients and, perhaps, all patients,” Drummond said. “This will decrease Oklahomans’ access to quality health care and devastate rural health.”
An OHCA spokesperson said in an email the agency works closely with state leaders, providers and health plans to strengthen SoonerSelect and ensure it serves Oklahomans, including providers, effectively.
“To ensure minimal disruption and allow adequate time for providers to plan, OHCA communicated with providers and members prior to the launch of SoonerSelect on April 1, 2024,” the spokesperson said. “Throughout the 15-month ramp-up period to the full SoonerSelect program, which ended July 1, 2025, OHCA has collaborated closely with providers to ensure a systematic and complete transition for all participants.”
“OHCA remains committed to working with providers and partners to address challenges as they arise and welcomes ongoing dialogue to ensure access to high-quality, person-centered care across the state,” they added.
Gov. Kevin Stitt called out Drummond in a statement on X, saying his letter is “just more politics as usual coming from people running for their next political promotion.”
“I stand with our Republican supermajority legislature who enacted Oklahoma’s SoonerSelect program into law following a robust, public debate,” Stitt said. “The selection of managed care organizations to administer this cost-containment program was conducted through a rigorous and transparent request for proposals process, in line with best procurement practices.”
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