Though the Senate now will not vote by Saturday’s deadline for Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act with a simple majority, it’s also the last day for another significant action.
Additional funding approved under President Barack Obama for the Children’s Health Insurance Program must be reauthorized by then.
"Should the enhanced CHIP funding not be reauthorized, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority stands to lose about $49 million in federal funds in state fiscal year 2018," said Cate Jeffries with OHCA.
That would put a real strain on the state Medicaid program's ability to provide comprehensive health services to around 125,000 children in poverty.
If reauthorization doesn’t happen, OHCA has a small, unspent CHIP allotment to fall back on.
"If we do have to use that allotment, we can continue to fund the CHIP program through state fiscal year 2018, which ends June 30, by pushing out some of our provider claim runs into the next fiscal year," Jeffries said.
OHCA is already grappling with a loss of $70 million, its share of the cigarette fee struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. That could mean an 8 percent provider rate cut, which would follow rate cuts in 2010, 2015 and 2016.
To minimize a provider rate cut, OHCA could consider cutting optional services, including dialysis, organ transplants and private-duty nursing for children.
