Despite its complexities and its politics, I support the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”). As I’ve written elsewhere, I think it would be both morally and economically wrong for Governor Fallin and the Oklahoma legislature to opt out of the ACA’s vast Medicaid expansion – a position shared by Oklahoma Policy Institute. So if Oklahoma does the right thing and opts to expand Medicaid for adults with incomes at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level, what will happen?
Oklahoma faces a serious shortage of primary care access. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority, the agency in charge of administering Medicaid, recently compiled county-by-county maps, color-coded to classify areas of severe physician shortage based on presumptive levels of Medicaid expansion. At a glance, these maps reveal something we already know: rural areas are hurting for physicians and populous counties seem to have more capacity. In my opinion, however, the maps don’t paint a full picture of the eventual shortfall.Continue reading…
