Agency to decide Oklahoma Medicaid cutbacks

Thousands of Oklahoma Medicaid patients would see benefits reduced as the state agency that manages the federal program grapples with required 5 percent budget cuts, according to a spending-cut proposal presented Wednesday to a House budget subcommittee.

Proposals include limiting paid emergency room visits to three a year, eliminating outpatient adult therapies, such as speech and physical therapy, eliminating reimbursement for newborn circumcision and reducing the number of brand-name prescriptions from three to two for adults, said Mike Fogarty, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority.

Final approval of those and other cuts in benefits will be presented next week to the authority’s board of directors for approval, he said.

Fogarty said the authority had considered a 1 percent cut in reimbursement rates to hospitals, physicians, nursing facilities, behavioral health services and other providers, which could generate $4 million in annual savings. He said that appears to be unnecessary now, but that option will be considered if deeper cuts are required before the end of this fiscal year.

The Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which serves more than 809,000 Oklahomans through its SoonerCare program, must cut nearly $27 million from its $581 million in state funds appropriated by the Legislature for the fiscal year which ends June 30. The 5 percent cuts in monthly appropriations began in August when state tax collections fell more than 20 percent below estimates.

That trend has continued, and through the first four months of this fiscal year, revenue has come in about 22 percent below estimates. With legislators not in session, state budget officials only can order across-the-board cuts. The revenue shortfall has been managed so far by the 5 percent cuts and borrowing $155.5 million from other accounts.

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