Eligibility for Reproductive Health & Family Planning Services (SoonerPlan) (OK SPA 24-0001)
At the request of the Oklahoma State Department of Health, the Agency will seeks authority to raise the FPL threshold from 133% to 205% for the Family Planning category. This change is intended to expand access to reproductive health services for individuals age 19 and older that do not qualify for these services through other SoonerCare programs and are otherwise uninsured or underinsured. Additionally, these actions may improve outcomes in healthy birth spacing, infant and maternal mortality and morbidity reduction, adolescent health and teen pregnancy prevention, as well as health disparities across the State.
Please view the circulation document here: OK SPA # 24-0001 and submit feedback via the comment box
Circulation Date: 08/25/23
Comment Due Date: 10/04/23
Effective Date: 01/01/24
Submit a Comment
After you submit your comment, you should be re-directed to a confirmation page. If you are not, please submit your comment through e-mail to federal.authorities@okhca.org.
Please note that all comments must be reviewed and approved prior to posting. Approved comments will be posted Monday through Friday between the hours of 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Any comments received after 4 p.m. will be posted on the following business day.
Comments
Steven:
OHCA had previously mentioned that SoonerPlan was scheduled to end Dec 31, 2023. What does this announcement mean for continuation of SoonerPlan? Is there a future "end date" for SoonerPlan? Thank you.
OHCA Response:
The State had previously intended to sunset the SoonerPlan program because the Federal Poverty Limit (FPL) threshold was the same as the new Medicaid Expansion population and most members on SoonerPlan were transitioned to full benefits Medicaid. The State is proposing to continue the SoonerPlan program at a higher income threshold to allow more Oklahomans who may not be eligible for any other program to receive screenings and preventions.
Steven:
The continuation and higher income eligibility for SoonerPlan is a positive step in the state's recognition of health needs and disparities. A stated goal is "healthy birth spacing", so SoonerPlan is designed for people who already have a child. Is access to SoonerPlan restricted by the requirement for "cooperation with child support services" when both parents of a child are not in the household? If yes.....(1) What is the process to remove this restriction to SoonerPlan and make it consistent with the SoonerCare Pregnancy category? (2) While there is a "Good Cause" exception option to the "cooperation" requirement, the on-screen info in the application is confusing and discouraging to the potential SoonerPlan member. How to get attention to a revision in the on-screen wording to be more understandable and encouraging? Thank you.
OHCA Response:
(1) Yes, child support service cooperation is a requirement. This proposed policy change would not affect that requirement, but as with any policy change, it could be initiated by legislation, agency priority, federal policy changes, etc.
(2) The good cause option text and help text were recently updated to new language requested by Oklahoma Child Support Services. It was intended to be more user-friendly than the previous text. It removed language about requiring police reports and other supporting documentation.
