Governor and Legislative Leaders Unveil Budget Agreement
On Thursday afternoon, Governor Stitt announced he and legislative leaders had reached an agreement on a $8.3 billion state budget for fiscal year 2022. The agreement increase appropriations to the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) by $194.3 million or 19.43 percent. The $164 million needed to expand Medicaid will come from federal funding provided through the American Rescue Plan. Budget chairs Senator Thompson and Representative Wallace explained at the announcement that a graduated increase in the Supplemental Hospital Offset Payment Program (SHOPP) fee will be used to help fund the program in the future.
Sen. Thompson also noted that Medicaid expansion will cover approximately $30 million in mental health services appropriations that otherwise gone through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS), which led to a $13.5 million or 4.01 percent reduction in the ODMHSAS state appropriation.
Under the agreement, the top individual income tax rate will decrease from 5.0 to 4.75 percent, and the corporate income tax rate will decrease from 6.0 to 4.0 percent, the impacts of which are still being calculated. It also restores refundability of the earned income tax credit (EITC), which was eliminated during the 2016 budget shortfall.
House Members Say They'll Fund Medicaid Managed Care if Senate Doesn't Pass Legislation Preventing It
Rep. Marcus McEntire, who sponsored SB 131 to prevent OHCA from privatizing the Medicaid program, has
recently said the House will not use the budget as a tool to prevent managed care moving forward if the Senate does not take up the legislation.
“We don’t want to use the budget as that lever. Our objective is to get a budget, not to blow it up over a policy,” said McEntire, R-Duncan. “If I can’t win people over with the idea and the merits of the policy, then I just can’t get it done.” Rep. Hilbert echoed his comments,
saying, "If [SB 131] doesn’t cross the finish line, then I don’t see the likelihood of another similar measure prohibiting the Oklahoma Health Care Authority from expending those funds on those contracts being successful.”
BPHC Proposes Regulation to Rescind 340B Insulin and EpiPen Rule
On Monday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
website was updated to include a proposed regulation from the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) to roll back the Trump administration-proposed rule on EpiPen and insulin pricing at community health centers. Before a change is official, the proposed rule must be published and be subjected to a public comment period before BPHC will issue a final rule.
CONNECT for Health Act Introduced in House and Senate
Late last month, Reps. Mike Thompson, Peter Welch, Bill Johnson, David Schweikert, and Doris Matsui
reintroduced the CONNECT for Health Act in the House. Oklahoma Senators Inhofe and Lankford have signed on as cosponsors of the CONNECT for Health Act of 2021 in the Senate. The legislation:
- Includes provisions to permanently allow health centers to provide telehealth services in Medicare as "distant sites" and be paid equal to the Medicare PPS rate.
- Allows any health center to receive the telehealth originating site facility fee regardless of location and recognize a patient's home as a qualifying originating site.
- Includes a "Sense of Congress" preamble to support audio-only coverage.