On June 30, Oklahoma voters should reject State Question 802 for a host of reasons.

First, funding for Medicaid should be not be handled as an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution. It should be more subject to the people and through elected lawmakers.

SQ802 not only makes it untouchable for future legislation but it ties its enforcement to the ups and downs of the federal poverty line. In other words, bureaucrats for the federal government would essentially determine how much the State Oklahoma must spend on health care.

Medicaid is government assistance for health care for the poor. Ex-president Obama wanted to shape Medicaid into single-payer socialized medicine with the feds calling the shots.

And SQ802 would make able-bodied Oklahomans between the ages of 18 and 65 eligible for Medicaid. (Medicare is for Americans age 65 and older.)

Health care is not a right, regardless of what Joe Biden mumbles. You can’t find that in the U.S. Constitution. If it were a right, that would mean that those who work were somehow obligated to pay the medical bills for the able-bodied who chose to not work.

Americans are compassionate. If you are sick and can’t pay, you can go to an emergency room and they are compelled by law to treat you and perhaps save your life.

The liberal Tulsa World has endorsed SQ802 because it grows state government and it is a path to socialized medicine. That is a big red flag.

Oklahoma is facing a critical revenue shortage due to the coronavirus and the slumping energy industry. This is especially not the time to saddle the state budget with federally controlled socialism.

Vote no on State Question 802 on June 30.