Volunteers hoping to put Medicaid Expansion on the ballot face a 90-day challenge to get nearly 178,000 signatures.
After getting a quick five-minute tutorial on how to legally gather signatures, Norman resident Jared Deck signed his name on the petition to put State Question 802 up for a vote of the people.
The Custer County native says he was born in a hospital building that is vacant today and has been for the past 20 years.
“I’ve seen the devastation that these hospital deserts create. I know the importance of what the Medicaid Expansion dollars can do for our state," Deck said. "I’m also a patient at a community health center, and I see the good work that’s done on the front lines of health care every day at organizations like that.”
He says he’s planning to volunteer throughout the next 90 days to get this state question on the ballot in November of 2020.
Supporters say while the state will have to pay $100 million to expand Medicaid, Oklahoma will also pull in about $900 million from the federal government.
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