Former OCPA trustee Dr. Tom Coburn and current OCPA fiscal policy director Jonathan Small have been two of the leading voices in Oklahoma warning against the Obamacare Medicaid expansion. In a column published yesterday in the Tulsa World, they make the argument that policymakers should continue to oppose expanding Medicaid — in any form.

“The lessons of history and the hard numbers are clear: It is not fiscally responsible or wise to expand a strained entitlement program and rely on federal funding that is unlikely,” Coburn and Small write. “While it has been tempting for some consultants and lawmakers to try to dress up Medicaid expansion as ‘program redesign,’ it is simply not in our state’s long-term interest to expand Medicaid, whether that’s under the guise of additional federal funding or creative program designs. Given the economic facts, any expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act would be a step in the wrong direction.”

The column is already attracting widespread attention and being shared via social media, including by Oklahoma House Speaker T.W. Shannon. “Oklahoma should not do the ObamaCare Medicaid expansion regardless of how it might be creatively packaged,” Speaker Shannon wrote. “The Affordable Care Act is bad for Oklahoma and our state taxpayers should not be forced to pick up the cost.”

We encourage you to read the entire column here.