News
Gazette staff
Oklahoma City Ward 2 Councilman Ed Shadid (pictured) will host a free health fair and town hall meeting on health care on Thursday at the OKC Marriott, 3233 Northwest Expressway.

News
Clifton Adcock
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week upholding the federal Affordable Care Act prompted no small amount of frustration from Oklahoma government and business leaders opposed to President Barack Obama’s signature program.

Commentary

For the nearly 700,000 Oklahomans currently without health insurance coverage, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling upholding the bulk of the Affordable Care Act offers hope. The court did, however, strike down one key component of the law by making the expansion of Medicaid, the shared federal-state health insurance program for the poor, optional rather than mandatory.

Commentary
Craig W. Jones
Many people know that Medicaid was passed alongside Medicare as part of the 1965 Social Security Act. But I would wager that very few Oklahomans know that Oklahoma was one of only six states to be the first to participate in Medicaid when it launched in 1966. Oklahoma was the only Southern state among those six. Another 27 states signed on later that year, 11 more in 1967, and another eight states (all Southern) in 1970. Seems the new social program at the time was a bit controversial.

Commentary
Mike Brake
Absent a resounding Republican victory this fall, liberals will get their big wish when Obamacare begins taking effect early in 2013. Under the “be careful what you wish for” rubric, it may be useful to look ahead. What can Oklahomans expect from Obamacare?

Commentary
Jonathan Small
Remember State Question 744? It required the state to raise its annual per pupil expenditures to at least the average rate of surrounding states. The measure did not raise taxes or designate funding. It was estimated that, if passed, SQ 744 would have increased state spending on common education by $830 million.

CFN
Gazette staff
Why does the standoff between Gov. Mary Fallin and the Affordable Care Act remind us of the battle between Sylvester and Tweety Bird?

Letters to the Editor
Kevin Acers
When Gov. Fallin announced that Oklahoma will not participate in the expansion of Medicaid under the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, she revealed political cowardice and recklessness of judgment. She may as well have proclaimed of our state’s low-income citizens, “Let them eat cake.”

Commentary
Kate Richey

For nearly 50 years, Medicaid has provided basic medical care to the poorest and most vulnerable Oklahomans. While Medicaid is the state’s primary safety net health care provider, many of the state’s poor are not currently eligible. The vast majority (93 percent) of those covered now under SoonerCare/Medicaid are children, seniors, disabled adults and pregnant women.

CFN
Gazette staff
Not ready to pay the federal fines you’re accruing for noncompliance? No problem! Take a tip from the folks at your friendly neighborhood Hobby Lobby corporate offices and find a loophole.