Voters in Oklahoma, one of just 14 states that didn't expand Medicaid under Obamacare and has one of the country's highest uninsured rates, turned out to say they wanted Medicaid expansion to increase health care access and help the hard-pressed rural hospitals. The ballot measure writes the expansion into the state constitution. Via Politico:
Oklahoma voters on Tuesday narrowly approved a ballot measure to extend Medicaid to tens of thousands of poor adults, making their state the first to expand government-backed health insurance during the pandemic.
The vote, which passed with 50.5 percent support, also throws a wrench in the Trump administration's plan to make Oklahoma the first state to receive its permission to cap Medicaid spending, a longtime goal of conservatives hoping to constrain the safety-net entitlement program.
Ballot organizers said the coronavirus crisis would help make their case for expanding Medicaid in the deep-red state. The average number of new cases in Oklahoma has more than doubled in the past month, and the state reported a record 585 new infections on Tuesday.
Oklahoma has become the fifth state where voters defied Republican leaders to expand Medicaid through the ballot. Missouri will hold a similar vote on Medicaid expansion later this summer.
Seems like the Trump administration's plans to abolish Obamacare might not be popular with Oklahoma voters this November, huh?
