Administrative Costs Under Oklahoma’s Medicaid Program Highest Among Group of 11 States, Task Force Says

Administrative costs under Oklahoma's Medicaid program are the highest among a group of 11 southern states, according to a report by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority Task Force, the Daily Oklahoman reports. Convened last month at the request of Gov. Frank Keating (R) and the state Legislature, the task force found that in fiscal year 2000, administrative costs under Oklahoma's Medicaid program accounted for 8.07% of the program's total expenditures, compared with an average of 4.58% for Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, all members of the Southern Legislative Conference. At the same time, Oklahoma's average per-beneficiary cost was $2,996, compared with an average of $3,645 per beneficiary for the 11 states. Task force member Burns Hargis said that differences among states' administrative systems makes it difficult to do a strict comparison of costs. For example, Oklahoma considers client transportation services an administrative cost, while other states consider the service as a beneficiary cost. State officials say the program needs additional funding to cover increasing costs and demand for services (Hinton, Daily Oklahoman, 5/20). The Oklahoma Health Care Authority last week asked state lawmakers for supplemental funds to offset a Medicaid budget shortfall, the third time this year the agency has requested such an appropriation (Hinton, Daily Oklahoman, 5/17).