State to hire consultant to figure Medicaid costs
BY ZEKE CAMPFIELD NewsOK.com
Friday, January 11, 2013
1/15/13 at 1:20 PM
Correction: A Friday Tulsa World headline incorrectly referred to the program that would have been expanded to cover uninsured Oklahomans. It was Medicaid. This story has been corrected.
Read the Tulsa World continuing coverage of the health care law.
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin last year rejected Medicaid expansion as envisioned under the federal Affordable Care Act because she feared it would cost too much.
On Thursday, state health officials authorized a $500,000 contract for a consultant to figure out how much it will cost for Oklahoma to go its own way.
Utah-based Leavitt Partners is now tasked with determining how best to ensure health care coverage for as many as 200,000 low-income Oklahomans who would have qualified for Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
"The first part is to take a look at the program as it is now, to do a historical perspective on the program almost like an evaluation piece," said Carter Kimble, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which approved the contract unanimously.
Original Print Headline: State to hire consultant to figure Medicaid costs
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