OHCA outlines Sooner Select rollout, sets 11% primary-care spending and two-year rate floors

Ellen Bittner, chief executive officer of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, and State Medicaid Director Traylor Raines laid out the agency’s Sooner Select managed-care transition and timeline at an Oklahoma City provider town hall.

The program aims to prioritize members and shift payment toward value-based arrangements. Under state legislation cited by OHCA officials, contracted entities must spend 11% of their medical spend on primary care—"close to triple" current levels—intended to increase prevention and reduce avoidable emergency care, officials said.

Traylor Raines said OHCA will retain oversight and compliance responsibilities and has written detailed contract requirements, including weekly payment traditions and a requirement that a clean claim submitted to a contracting plan be paid within 14 days. Contracts and legislation also require rate floors for the first two years, meaning plans cannot reimburse below…