Yukon Review

Two sides of State Question 802

SQ 802: Good for our economy and Think carefully before you cast
mental health, good for Oklahoma your vote on State Question 802
Jun
By JAMES BOST SQ 802 would make By BYRON SCHLOMACH
27 Executive Director, additional funding
expenses for the big
Director, 1889 Institute hospitals.
NAMI Oklahoma possible for these com- Medicaid expansion
2020 munities. A vote “Yes” on is about making very
The COVID-19 pan-
Other states that State Question 802 wealthy people in
demic impacts every
Oklahoman. expanded their would expand healthcare richer.
Page Our demand for Medicaid program Medicaid to able- At some point, we’ll
A004 mental health services saw greater improve- bodied adults above steal from our schools
has never been higher, ments in access to the poverty line. to pay big-city hospital
Clip due in part to econom- mental health services A vote “No” would administrators so they
resized ic woes. and medications, and keep taxpayers buying can buy a better model
47% We will need every a 44 percent average health care mainly for of Mercedes or another
possible tool to decline in uninsured poor children and vacation home that’s
respond, including mental health hospital pregnant mothers. not in Oklahoma.
expanded access to stays, according to State Question 802 is But what about the
health care services. both government data not that simple. rural hospitals?
As NAMI sources and indepen- Terms of Medicaid At a hearing in the
Oklahoma’s executive dent analysis. expansion would be set state Capitol, some
director, part of Expanding Medicaid in our constitution, nurses testified about
America’s largest in Oklahoma would sidestepping our legis- how their rural hospi-
grassroots mental return more than $8 lature, which is sup- tal was made financial-
health organization, I billion from the feder- posed to adjust to exist- ly sound.
have witnessed the al government. ing circumstances, tak- They stopped operat-
lack of available Offsetting costs in ing that flexibility ing wastefully like big-
resources for the unin- areas like law enforce- away. city hospitals and
sured in our state. ment and criminal jus- Consequently, fund- stopped providing ser-
Many of our fellow tice could also result ing for public educa- vices better suited to
Oklahomans are from expanding tion, roads, parks, pris- big hospitals.
unable to access neces- Medicaid, as other ons, courts and other Most of healthcare’s
sary treatment for states have document- purposes, not constitu- almost 20 percent of
management of their ed. tionally protected, will GDP is a pure transfer
condition. Urban Institute data one day see deep cuts from everybody else to
On Tuesday, we can estimates a savings of during an inevitable wealthy health care
change this crisis by up to $1.5 billion over economic downturn, to providers through
voting YES on SQ 802. the next nine years in fund Medicaid. grossly over-priced
By voting in favor of Oklahoma if adopted. Commercials for SQ services in an industry
SQ 802, an increased Getting a job and 802 lead us to believe where competition
number of low-income keeping it will also that Medicaid expan- mostly does not exist
adults would become sion is a pure windfall. because patients don’t
become a reality for
eligible for Medicaid, They never say it pay their own bills.
patients who benefit
known in Oklahoma requires $100 million But, health care is a
from SoonerCare.
as SoonerCare. of our money, for right. We all need it,
Proposals that push
Of the estimat- which there is no for good health, for
work requirements to source. If necessary,
ed 150,000 Oklahomans qualify for SoonerCare dignity, and for life
who would gain cover- the money comes from itself. You can make
are ineffective because the rest of the state’s
age through the expan- the same argument
they do not allow indi- budget, whose biggest
sion of SoonerCare, about food and hous-
viduals to get the care funding item is public
about 97,000 have a ing, and indeed, these
that makes it possible education. are often provided by
mental health diagno-
to hold down a job. Poor people don’t government.
sis.
Untreated mental fund commercials. It’s But the problem
That’s nearly 100,000
people — including health conditions, big hospitals, with with saying any one
our family members, including depression their million-dollar sal- person has a “right” to
friends, neighbors, and opioid use, cor- aried CEOs. something another
coworkers, veterans — relate with unemploy- Low-income individ- person must produce is
who would gain access ment. uals are getting the that you are also say-
to essential mental Vote in favor of SQ basic health care ser- ing you have a right to
health services. 802 on Tuesday. It’s a vices they need, and another person’s labor.
Passing SQ 802 is the simple economic hospitals are making Paying them with
first step to bolstering choice: bring in fund- money. Otherwise, taxpayer money only
state funds, creating ing from the federal new hospitals and hos- means you have a
jobs and providing the government or spend pital expansion con- right to taxpayers’
care Oklahomans more of our state gen- struction projects labor, without recom-
need. eral fund on fewer ser- would not be constant. pense.
Health care access vices. When health care There’s a word for
has steadily decreased Please choose to industry spokespeople when a person has a
over the past decade help families access claim financial hard- “right” to another per-
for people living in health care and over- ship due to poor people son’s labor without
rural communities. come barriers to not paying bills, it’s a recompense – it’s
Oklahoma is among employment and more lie. Even using grossly “slavery.”
the top six states that productive lives. inflated prices to exag- Keep that in mind
have experienced the SQ 802 is our oppor- gerate losses from while casting your
most rural hospital tunity to do what’s charity and unpaid vote on SQ 802 on
closures since 2010. good for Oklahoma. bills, these are minor Tuesday.

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