Alva Review-Courier -

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday set a June 30 election date for voters to decide whether to expand Medicaid health coverage to more Oklahomans.

Stitt issued a proclamation to place State Question 802 on the June 30 primary election ballot. Supporters of expanding Medicaid gathered a record number of signatures to qualify the question for the ballot.

A Medicaid expansion would extend health insurance to low-income adults who earn up to 133% of the federal poverty level, or $16,970 for an individual and $34,846 for a family of four. The Health Care Authority estimates about 220,000 Oklahomans would immediately qualify, at a total cost of about $1.24 billion annually. The federal government would cover about $1.1 billion in annual costs with the state responsible for about $150 million each year.

Stitt opposes a full expansion and instead wants to take advantage of a block-grant-style Medicaid expansion offered by the Trump administration that would give states more control over Medicaid in exchange for a limit on how much the feds kick in. One requirement that Stitt and other conservative policymakers want to impose would make recipients pay premiums and either work or volunteer in the community.