Kingfisher area residents have the opportunity to weigh in on SoonerSelect, Oklahoma Health Care Authority’s new managed care program, at a town hall meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds.

Pre-registration is required and can be done online at https://oklahoma.gov/ohca/townhall/kingfisher.html for either virtual or in-person attendance.

SoonerSelect is an expansion of Oklahoma’s Medicaid program, SoonerCare, which currently covers only children, pregnant women, elderly and disabled individuals.

SoonerSelect extends eligibility to adults age 19-64, whose incomes are 138 % of the federal poverty level or less.

This equates to an annual income of $16,970 or less for an individual or $34,846 or less for a family of four.

The Medicaid expansion was mandated by voters who approved State Question 802 last June and will go into effect July 1.

In conjunction with the expansion, the state has taken steps to partially privatize the entire Medicaid program.

Four private health insurance companies will handle much of Oklahoma’s Medicaid program starting in October: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma; Humana Healthy Horizons; Oklahoma Complete Health, which is a subsidiary of managed care giant Centene, and United Healthcare.

Critics of the plan, including most of the state’s medical trade associations and a number of legislators, argue that it will reduce provider participation in Medicaid and thus reduce access to health care for many low-income Oklahomans.

For those unable to attend Thursday’s meeting, it will be recorded, and a replay will be available at a later date.