The headline is not an exaggeration.
By a margin of 65 to 34 with all 30 Democrats and 4 Republicans voting against it, the Oklahoma House of Representatives has passed HB 2665, a bill that commands the state health department to request a waiver from the federal government to cut legions of single parents off Medicaid.
House Bill 2665, by Rep. Doug Cox, R-Grove, instructs the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which administers the state’s Medicaid program, to request a federal waiver that would allow it to exclude all able-bodied adults younger than 65.
Currently, Cox said, about 111,000 single, non-disabled parents earning less than $9,500 are covered by SoonerCare, Oklahoma’s version of Medicaid. Cox said 77,000 of those are women.
Republicans in the legislature want to kick these single parents off Medicaid because doing so would help them close a hole in the state budget, but doing so would also cost the state over $230 million in federal matching funds.
As you might have guessed, this is the first solution approved by the state Republican party to close the budget hole. They not have yet considered rolling back generous corporate tax breaks and I wouldn't hold my breath
I don't expect the federal government will approve the waiver so, at least for now, poor single parents are safe.
Oklahoma has refused to participate in the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare.