Nearly 30,000 Oklahomans Sign Up For Medicaid Under New Eligibility

Nearly 30 thousand newly eligible Oklahomans have signed up for Medicaid.

The state opened up expanded eligibility Tuesday, a year after voters approved Medicaid expansion in Oklahoma that broadens income guidelines. The Oklahoma Health Care Authority released new numbers Thursday that show 29,540 Oklahomans have been approved for benefits since sign-ups started on June 1st.

Last year, Oklahoma voters expanded Medicaid to include many low-income adults whose income is 138% or lower than the federal poverty level. The Health Care Authority says they will release new numbers daily showing how many new Oklahomans are approved as part of the expansions.

Those numbers include demographic information like race, sex, and age. Melissa Richey with the Oklahoma Health Care Authority says they have been busy for months preparing for this expansion and are starting an outreach campaign to get more people signed up and to show them how.

"There are certain requirements that applicants will need to have when they apply,” said Richey. “So I encourage them to get those documents that they need together now, have them ready for whenever they go online to apply or for whenever they call our helpline to apply."

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a law that would have privatized the state's Medicaid program.

But that has no impact on the sign-ups. Benefits start for new sign-ups on July 1st.