OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) expressed its gratitude to state voters for the passage of State Question 802, the proposal to expand Medicaid in the state.
The question passed with just over 50.4 percent of the vote and a 6,488 majority. The organization’s Board of Directors endorsed the state question earlier this year.
As part of the organization’s support, it produced and distributed a 30-second television commercial along with several digital and print advertisements and a dedicated web page on the OICA website focused on State Question 802. OICA’s advertising was fact-based. The television commercial presented the fact that children are 29 percent more likely to get at least one well-child visit each year in families with health care. The projected 200,000 Oklahomans who will get coverage when the constitutional amendment takes effect on July 1, 2021, will overwhelmingly be working families, most with children. “The opponents of the state question chose to focus on fear and hyperbole – in short, they were blatantly misleading about parts the state question,” Dorman said. “OICA took a different track. We chose to show how Medicaid expansion will help make Oklahoma a healthier state for families and children.” Dorman said it took every individual and organization working together to cut through the efforts by some to “muddy the waters” on the state question and secure its passage.
“There was not a single vote, a single person who fought for better health care, or a single organization that signed on to support and committed resources to spare with this vote,” he said. “This was a victory for all Oklahomans. It took all of us – child advocacy, health care, faith-based, and business organizations, and countless devoted individuals – to make this win a reality. “As voters went to the polls Tuesday, Oklahoma had the second worst rate of insurance coverage in the nation. Now, and only now, Oklahoma is truly on its way to becoming a ‘top ten’ state.”
About OICA: The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities, or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. Our mission statement: “Creating awareness, taking action and changing policy to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”