James Lankford says folks are ‘going crazy’ over GOP Medicaid plans. But it’s not in a good way

It’s become clear that Oklahoma’s U.S. Sen. James Lankford has apparently taken one too many sips of the spiked, D.C.-flavored Kool-Aid.

He’s either become so addicted to the ambrosia served by the Washington elites, or he’s been spending too much time cocooned in our nation’s capital to be in touch with what’s happening at home.

Because it’s clear there’s a disconnect between the Republican Medicaid propaganda he’s been spouting and the stark reality of Oklahoma’s insurance and health care systems.

Earlier this month, Lankford conducted a CNBC interview where he decided to bring up congressional Republicans’ planned changes to Medicaid that, as he put it, “everyone is going crazy over.”

Lankford was referring to the U.S. House of Representatives’ budget bill that institutes complex work reporting requirements for lower-income individuals who received health insurance coverage as part of our state’s expansion of Medicaid coverage. Oklahomans voted in 2020 to expand access to the insurance program, which relies on federal-state matching dollars, to provide health care coverage to Oklahomans ages 19 to 64 who made less than $17,800 a year as an individual, or families of four who make less than $36,600 a year.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this new work requirement would affect 18.5 million adults nationally.

The measure also allows states to implement more stringent work requirements and verification checks and disenroll people who don’t comply.

Lankford, who makes an annual salary of $174,000 and receives access to a nice package of federal health benefits, of course, couldn’t resist showing how tone deaf he is to the Oklahomans back home who are struggling to make ends meet or can’t afford health insurance.

He told CNBC that it’s “just a work requirement.”

“People are screaming and saying, ‘Hey it’s kicking people off Medicaid.’ It’s not kicking people off Medicaid, it’s transitioning from Medicaid to employer provided health care,” Lankford said. “So yes, we’ve got 10 million people that are not going to be on Medicaid, but then they are going to be on employer provided health care. We think that’s a better option for the taxpayer, and quite frankly, for their families as well.”

Lankford conveniently forgot to mention that slightly less than half of Oklahoma private sector businesses offered health insurance to their employees in 2023, according to an analysis by KFF, which provides nonpartisan health policy research. The 2023 number, the most recent available, does not factor in government-provided insurance or unincorporated private businesses whose owners report their income as part of their personal taxes. 

But that still leaves half of Oklahoma employers that don’t offer that insurance.

So where does Lankford expect those people to get their employer-provided insurance? Surely, he’s not suggesting that employees flee their current jobs and hold out for jobs that provide it.

A party that champions limited government isn’t planning to force private employers to begin offering it or to boost salaries to ensure increased uptake, is it? Is he offering to share his federal health package with the masses?

After long resisting calls to expand Medicaid, our state found itself with some of the worst health outcomes in the nation, thanks in part to hundreds of thousands of Oklahomans who made too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private insurance.

Voters’ decision to expand Medicaid to include our working poor was a move to change our health care outcomes ranking for the better.

A little more than a year after expanding Medicaid access, over 280,000 Oklahomans had signed up.

Prior to Medicaid expansion, Oklahoma’s uninsured rate reached about 14.4%. That rate dropped to 11.4% in 2023. Still, Oklahoma ranked 48th in its number of insured. Massachusetts, which has the lowest rate, had just 2.6% of residents uninsured.

Out of 77 Oklahoma counties, 75 are classified as health professional shortage areas. Those are areas where there are at least 3,500 patients for every provider. Our state ranks 48th for physician supply, 46th for primary care physician access, and 47th for general surgeons, according to the Cicero Institute, a nonpartisan public policy institute.

So I’m not 100% sure why Lankford would want Oklahoma’s uninsured rates to get even worse. Because they will worsen.

Adding work requirements probably will remove people from the federal Medicaid expansion roles, but at what cost to our state?

So, yeah, everyone “going crazy over” Congress’ proposed work requirements can read the writing on the wall.

Perhaps Congress should fix the underlying issues that are plaguing our health care system before promoting policies designed to increase our nation’s uninsured rates. 

If we can fix the health care system, perhaps then we’ll all benefit from lower costs and maybe fewer people will need to utilize a government program.