Oklahoma Resists Push for Enrollment in Affordable Care Act Coverage - NYTimes.com

Oklahoma Resists Push for Enrollment in Affordable Care Act Coverage - NYTimes.com

Makes me proud to be an Oklahoman:

"Consumers who are eligible for insurance subsidies, in the form of tax credits, worry that they are getting something others cannot. Many Oklahomans have a strong streak of independence and are reluctant to rely on federal assistance. When told of their subsidies, Mr. [Steven] Goldman [insurance counselor at the Oklahoma Primary Care Association] said, consumers ask: 'Am I getting more than I deserve? Have I earned this? Is it fair?'...

"But for conservatives like Jonathan Small, the president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, it is a matter of prudence. The state cannot afford the Medicaid program it has, much less a larger program, he said. The federal government pays 100 percent of the cost of newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries from 2014 to 2016, with the federal share declining gradually to 90 percent in 2020 and beyond. Critics of the health care law worry that in the future, the federal government might reduce its promised contribution.

"Then there are the rising costs, which have bedeviled many states. Premiums had been lower here than in many states. But, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the cost of a benchmark insurance plan increased by an average of 35.7 percent this year in Oklahoma, more than in any other state using the federal exchange."