A bill moving through the Oklahoma Legislature has been touted by some as a new plan to “rebalance” Medicaid and find a conservative alternative to Medicaid expansion. In reality, Senate Bill 605 adopts Medicaid expansion under a pseudonym and shifts existing federal burdens onto Oklahoma taxpayers.
The proposal expands Medicaid eligibility to the entire Obamacare expansion population of able-bodied adults, uses Obamacare expansion funding to do so, and is subject to all Obamacare regulations.
Call it what you will, but the bottom line is the same: SB 605 is Medicaid expansion—and it creates a new entitlement program for able-bodied adults.
