Oklahoma Watch (https://oklahomawatch.org/author/trevorbrown/)
For just the third time this decade, more Oklahomans went without health coverage in the most recent year compared with the year before. The drop was slight, but could factor into discussions of proposals to expand Medicaid or make other policy changes.
Cleveland County District Judge Thad Balkman awarded the state of Oklahoma $572 million to address the effects of the opioid epidemic. But questions remain over how, when and whether Oklahoma will get a chance to spend the money.
The question of whether to expand Medicaid and extend health insurance to thousands of Oklahomans promises to be a major topic over the next year. Here are some of the facts you need to know.
An Oklahoma Watch review of court records since 2016 found that dozens of hospitals across the state have filed at least 22,250 lawsuits against their former patients over unpaid medical bills. In many of those cases, the hospitals have garnished wages to collect anywhere from a few hundred dollars to more than $10,000.
Do hospitals in Oklahoma sue patients over unpaid bills more than in other states?
A company headed by a Republican state House member was paid tens of thousands of dollars to help throw a lavish party in honor of House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, raising conflict-of-interest questions.
As the Trump administration prepares to launch immigration raids, fears of arrest among Oklahoma’s undocumented immigrants grow. But those fears were already heightened: Data analyzed by Oklahoma Watch shows in recent years arrests have risen for undocumented migrants here who have no criminal record or only minor offenses.
The E Foundation, a nonprofit that raised eyebrows when former Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb started the group before his unsuccessful gubernatorial bid last year, has closed. Is a new similar organization being created?
Oklahoma’s air may be getting worse. The newest data from the Environmental Protection Agency shows air quality throughout much of the state was down during each of the past two years. That bucked a trend in which state had seen significant improvement during the past decade.
Marijuana has become a burgeoning industry in Oklahoma in the year since voters approved a state question to allow medical marijuana. Locate the dispensaries in your area and clusters or deserts in different parts of the state or cities.