OKLAHOMA CITY — “Local option” Medicaid expansion would be possible under legislation passed by the state House of Representatives on Wednesday.
House Bill 1750, by Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, has cruised along with little notice and attracted only three opposing votes on Wednesday, but that may change as its provisions become more widely known.
Specifically, the bill allows for the creation of “local hospital and health care districts,” which can then levy taxes to raise the matching funds for additional Medicaid money.
Creation of the districts and the new taxes would require votes of the people within the districts.
“This is an attempt to expand Medicaid at the local level,” said Rep. Marcus McEntire, R-Duncan, who presented the measure.
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HB 1750 authorizes the creation of districts by two or more adjoining counties, with municipalities within those districts also able to form districts.
The districts could tap existing taxes for support of medical infrastructure, or ask voters for additional revenue through a new sales or property tax.
Only the new revenue could be used to request additional Medicaid support, which would be made through the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.
The OHCA would have to get a federal Medicaid waiver to receive the matching funds.
The bill, which now goes to the Senate, passed 91-3, with three Republicans in opposition.
Also Wednesday:
•The House passed several criminal justice reform measures, including bills dealing with calculating parole eligibility, sentencing for second offenses, the term of misdemeanor warrants and creation of a criminal justice reform commission.
•HB 2189, by Rep. Denise Brewer, D-Tulsa, overcame constitutional objections to win approval by a wide margin. The bill allows accusers in domestic violence cases to testify by two-way television.
Brewer said domestic abuse victims are reluctant to come forward, much less testify, because they fear their attackers.
Representatives Logan Phillips, R-Mounds, and Jim Olsen, R-Sallisaw, asked how the proposal did not violate the constitutional guarantee of confronting accusers, but Rep. Ben Loring, D-Miami, and a former prosecutor, noted the process has been ruled admissible by the courts.
The system is already used for child abuse cases.
•The House voted to reduce the training requirements for school personnel authorized to carry guns on campus, but would allow districts to work with law enforcement on alternative instruction.
Rep. Sean Roberts, R-Hominy, said HB 2336 is needed because districts are having a hard time finding personnel willing to go through the required private security guard training.
