By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — House lawmakers advanced a measure to ask voters to remove Medicaid expansion from the state Constitution despite concerns that it could result in hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans losing health care.
House Bill 4440 would require a special election in August to ask voters to remove Medicaid expansion from the state Constitution and enact it in state statute instead.
Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow, who authored the legislation, said the measure is “very necessary” because the cost of Medicaid is “increasing dramatically” and the state cannot afford it.
“Putting Medicaid expansion in our Constitution was a mistake,” Hilbert said. “It ties the hands of the Legislature who’s elected to represent the people of Oklahoma and limits our ability to address the pressing needs that we have.”
He said Oklahoma will remain a Medicaid expansion state if this passes.
“It is essential the people of Oklahoma fix the mistake we made with putting Medicaid expansion in our Constitution,” Hilbert said.
Voters enshrined Medicaid expansion into the state Constitution in 2020. It requires that coverage be offered to all adults below age 65 who make less than $21,597 a year.
Removing Medicaid expansion from the Constitution could allow future legislatures to eliminate health coverage for more than 200,000 Oklahomans, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Hospital Association said in a statement.
“In 2020, Oklahoma voters made a deliberate decision to enshrine Medicaid expansion in the Constitution, protecting it from short-term political shifts and ensuring long-term stability for working families,” the organization said.
House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said the legislation goes against the will of the Oklahomans who passed Medicaid expansion.
“Maybe the people wanted our hands tied,” she said while debating against the bill. “They wanted more power over the future of their health care. We’re only here and having this conversation mostly due to the federal government.”
Changes to Medicaid through the One Big Beautiful Bill, which was signed by President Donald Trump, are expected to cut federal spending by $886.8 billion over a decade in large part due to new work requirements. The House measure calls for the question to be on the ballot during a special election on Aug. 25.
Munson said on Thursday that calling a special August election seems to be a “strategic move” because more Republican voters are likely to turnout for the highly contested Republican runoffs that are expected to be on the ballot.
The House passed the bill with a vote of 77-20. The measure is now available to be heard in the Senate, where Senate President Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, is the bill author.
Lawmakers also passed House Joint Resolution 1067, another measure that would send a Medicaid question to voters. If passed, it would allow the Legislature to decline covering the cost of Medicaid expansion if the federal match drops below its current rate of 90%.
“I just know the path that we’re on right now, if the federal match ever does drop below 90% it would unfortunately tie our hands to where if you say yes to one thing, it by default means you’re saying no to others,” said bill author Rep. Ryan Eaves, R-Atoka.
The bill also calls for the question to be on the ballot during a special election on Aug. 25.
This measure also heads to the Senate with a 72-20 vote.
