12/15/20
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Melissa Richey, Chief of Communications
405-982-8707 | melissa.richey@okhca.org
Katelynn Burns, Senior Media Relations Professional
405-522-7266 | katelynn.burns@okhca.org
Oklahoma Health Care Authority Partners with The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes on New Initiative
Oklahoma City, OK – The Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA) and The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes will partner through the Money Follows the Person Tribal Initiative (MFPTI) to provide additional services for qualifying Tribal SoonerCare members. The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakonie) are the first Oklahoma Tribe to receive funding through the MFPTI.
MFPTI offers the resources to build sustainable Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) specifically for Indian country. The MFPTI funding will be used to develop HCBS infrastructure for American Indian and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs). The funding is intended to support the planning and development of an in-state HCBS Medicaid program tailored to AI/ANs who are currently in an institution.
Through the MFPTI, tribal members with functional limitations or cognitive impairments who live in an institutional setting for more than 90 days in a row can receive assistance with daily living tasks such as bathing, dressing and eating.
“We are excited about this new partnership and the opportunity for these Tribal members to receive additional assistance and provide them the resources to transition back into their own communities, “ said OHCA CEO Kevin Corbett."
I was determined to see this through after personally seeing the struggle of our people trying to stay out of nursing homes while facing mounds of complex and confusing paperwork," Wichita and Affiliated Tribe’s President, Terri Parton, said. "Out of all the things I've worked on as a tribal leader, this will be the one that will be the dearest to me, because of one tribal member and her struggle inspired me to stay the course and not give up on this."
The tribe’s MFPTI funding will last through the end of 2021.
About the Oklahoma Health Care Authority
The Oklahoma Health Care Authority administers two health
programs for the state. The first is SoonerCare, Oklahoma’s Medicaid
program. SoonerCare works to improve the health of qualified Oklahomans
by ensuring that medically necessary benefits and services are
available. Qualifying Oklahomans include certain low-income children,
seniors, the disabled, those being treated for breast or cervical cancer
and those seeking family planning services. The second program OHCA
operates is Insure Oklahoma, which assists qualifying adults and small
business employees in obtaining health care coverage for themselves and
their families. Currently, there are 827,657 Oklahomans enrolled in
OHCA’s programs. The agency contracts with a network of approximately
60,000 providers. For more information, visit www.okhca.org or www.insureoklahoma.org.
