Here are excerpts from recent editorials in Oklahoma newspapers:
The Oklahoman. Aug. 4, 2019.
- Oklahoma lawmakers look to tackle Medicaid
Since being named co-chairman of a legislative working group that will study an Oklahoma-specific plan to expand health care coverage, Sen. Greg McCortney says he hasn’t slept all that well. He was joking - or perhaps not.
The challenge ahead is significant, and could wind up being for naught because of a looming state question that seeks to fully expand Medicaid, as many other states have done.
July 31 was the start of a 90-day window for backers of Medicaid expansion to collect the 178,000 valid signatures needed to put the question before voters in November 2020. The potential state question seeks to amend the state constitution to expand Medicaid to low-income adults ages 18 to 65 whose income doesn’t exceed 133% of the federal poverty level. If approved, it would expand coverage to at least 100,000 uninsured residents.
Under the Affordable Care Act, states can add able-bodied adults to their Medicaid rolls, with the feds paying 90% of the costs and the state paying the rest. The potential cost to Oklahoma has ranged from $150 million per year to $374 million annually.
Proponents say expansion would improve Oklahoma’s poor health outcomes and help rural hospitals. Our concern about full-scale expansion has been that the state’s costs will only continue to rise, as has happened in other states where the number of enrollees has far exceeded estimates.
Gov. Kevin Stitt opposes the proposed state question, preferring an Oklahoma plan. Crafting one will fall to McCortney, R-Ada, and Rep. Marcus McEntire, R-Duncan, who will lead the working group that includes 18 legislators (nine each from the House and Senate) and two representatives from Stitt’s office.
McCortney said the White House under President Trump “has been begging states to create good alternatives” to expansion allowed under Obamacare. “To me, this is our moment,” he said.
McCortney would like to provide an incentive to those who will receive the insurance to make decisions that benefit them and the state. “We need to find ways that they have skin in the game . where the ER is no longer as good an option as going to your regular doctor,” he said.
In addition, as with a bill he filed during the 2019 session, McCortney would like to see the private market play a significant role in any state-centric plan, as opposed to government-run health care.
“If you can line those things up, you can be significantly more successful than traditional Medicaid expansion,” McCortney said.
This group has much heavy lifting ahead on a complicated subject about which passions run high. Meanwhile, language in the proposed state question is such that if approved by voters, it would supersede whatever the Legislature comes up with.
Thus, we could be left with the Legislature creating and approving a plan that works well for Oklahoma, and then having to hope that voters feel good enough about it that they reject the state question. But without the former, nothing else matters. That is Job One.
___
Enid News & Eagle. Aug. 5, 2019.
- Don’t fall victim to latest scams
Hardly a week goes by without reports of some new scam designed to take money from good people.
Whether by email, social media, phone or in person, scammers seem to stay one step ahead in their quest to steal our money.
Often, these scams target the older generation. We aren’t sure why, but maybe it’s because they believe older people are more vulnerable or more trusting. The older generation grew up in a time where, as the old saying goes, “A man’s word is his bond.”
Now, the saying almost should be, “Trust no one.” It’s a shame it’s reached this point, but it’s a way to avoid a lot of heartache and lost money.
We can offer a little advice.
- Government agencies like Social Security or the FBI, as well as financial institutions, aren’t going to call you or email you and issue threats if you don’t wire money, send cash or put money on gift cards immediately.
- If you get a call or email from a relative or friend who claims to be in trouble and needs money immediately, don’t send anything. Hang up and call another relative or someone you trust to verify what you were told.
- Never give any personal information, including Social Security number, bank account or credit card number to anyone who contacts you.
- Any legitimate sweepstakes, lottery or prize contest like Publishers Clearing House will not contact you asking you to pay taxes or fees before you can receive your prize.
- Hang up on callers you suspect are con artists. Don’t reply to emails that seem fishy.
- And remember this bit of old-fashioned advice: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
We also would urge people to watch out for their friends and loved ones, especially the elderly.
If you suspect a scam, you can call the police, although it sometimes can be hard, if not impossible, to track down the bad guys, especially if they are in another country.
You also can contact the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit by calling 405-521-2029 or emailing ConsumerProtection@oag.ok.gov .
Don’t fall victim to the latest scam.
___
Tulsa World. Aug. 6, 2019.
- El Paso and Dayton mass shootings should drive nation to action
Responding to two mass shootings over the weekend, President Trump called Monday for “strong background checks” for gun purchases. We agree.
On Saturday, a 21-year-old gunman opened fire in an El Paso, Texas, retail area, killing least 22 and leaving two dozen injured. Hours later, a 24-year-old man killed nine people in Dayton, Ohio. Both shooters used assault-style rifles.
The motive in the Dayton attack is unclear, but the gunman in the El Paso shooting left an online racist screed aimed at immigrants prior to his terror attack.
With his own immigration rhetoric blamed by his political opponents for creating an atmosphere for violence, Trump tried to change the discussion Monday. He blamed the media for contributing “greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years” and announced renewed backing of background checks.
Background checks were part of a multipronged Trump response to the mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The 2018 initiative also included raising to 21 the age for assault-style rifle sales and a ban on bump stocks. Most of that initiative fell by the wayside, the victim of Congressional inaction, although the Trump administration eventually banned bump stocks through Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rules.
We supported background checks and raising the age for assault-style rifle purchases in 2018, and do so still. Neither would unduly infringe on anyone’s Second Amendment rights. The Texas gunman wouldn’t have been able to buy his weapon legally if the purchase age were 21. We haven’t seen anything to show that either shooter would have failed to pass a background check, but the idea still has merit.
Both crimes were horrifying. In combination, they are the sort of repugnant nightmares that should drive a nation to action, except we’ve seen it so many times before with so little impact.
How many savage days must our nation endure before we will take commonsense steps to save lives?
Please read our comment policy before commenting.