February 2026
OHCA has reinstituted the provider attestation requirement related to amended Executive Order 2025-16, which was reissued on Jan. 15, 2026. The updated provider attestation form is available under Forms on OHCA's Provider Enrollment page.
All providers will receive an automated email from the provider portal notifying them that their provider file requires attention regarding an attestation of compliance related to Executive Order 2025-16.
If you previously submitted your attestation through the Qualtrics form, you do not need to take further action. However, completing it in the Provider portal will allow pending contract actions to proceed without delay, provided all other requirements are met.
This second submission is not required. Attestations previously submitted on the Qualtrics form are being manually attached to provider files.
This email was generated as part of recent system updates that integrate the Oklahoma Executive Order 2025-16 attestation process directly into the provider portal. These updates are now live. In the future, attestations for new contracts and renewals will be completed through the provider portal.
If you have not submitted a provider attestation, please submit the attestation through the provider portal no later than 5 p.m., May 15, 2026.
You can visit the Provider Enrollment page for an updated Frequently Asked Questions document with additional information and submission instructions. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Provider Enrollment at ProviderEnrollment@okhca.org or 800-522-0114, option 5.
Talking with your patients about tobacco use goes beyond checking a box in their chart. When a patient gets advice to quit from their trusted physician, it holds the most weight and is proven to make an impact. Your voice matters more than you might realize.
February Is American Heart Month
Heart disease claims more than 800,000 lives each year in the U.S. About 25% of those deaths are connected to smoking, and secondhand smoke is responsible for 34,000 more. A simple question about tobacco use opens the door to life-saving support.
Limited-Time Offer from the Helpline
This February, the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline is offering eight weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy — patches, gum or lozenges. Encourage your patients to take advantage of this offer to curb their nicotine cravings and start their quit journey. Offer ends Saturday, Feb. 28.
Additional Free Services
Once you've started the conversation, the Helpline takes it from there. Services include coach support with personalized strategies, advice and tips available 24/7, daily text and email encouragement, and live online group sessions for peer support. It doesn’t matter if your patients are thinking about quitting, already trying or have tried before, the Helpline has services and support that can help.
Stock Up on Free Materials
Order pens, brochures and prescription pads for your office at OKhelpline.com/order.
Provider Files
Please update your OHCA provider files to ensure all details, including new or missing locations and group member assignments, are accurate. If your update impacts services under SoonerSelect partners, email your Application Tracking Number (ATN), received upon submitting your update on the OHCA provider portal, to ProviderEnrollment@okhca.org with "SoonerSelect update" and your ATN in the subject line.
Renewal Processing
Due to the high volume of renewals, processing is taking longer than usual. OHCA published a global message on Feb. 2, 2026, informing providers that renewals have been extended to April 30, 2026. This will allow processing time to ensure that providers are not affected.
Please ensure the contact information, including email address, is up to date for all individual and facility/group provider files so that important contract information will be received.
Provider Renewals
For the following provider types, 75-day renewals started Jan. 15, and contracts expire March 31, 2026.
- Ambulance services
- Audiologist
- Dietitian
- Occupational therapist
- Physical therapist
- Podiatrist
- Speech pathologist
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Patients wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) receive continuous data so they can anticipate issues instead of reacting to them. This reduces stress and emergency room visits. Encouraging CGM use shows your patients that their care team understands the emotional toll of diabetes and is committed to easing that burden. SoonerCare offers CGMs to members who meet qualifying criteria.
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For American Heart Month, the American Heart Association focuses on bringing awareness to the 8 Pillars of Health: physical activity, eating healthy, quitting tobacco and nicotine products, healthy sleep, managing weight, managing blood pressure, managing blood sugar and managing cholesterol. Making small lifestyle changes can make a big impact on your patients' health. SoonerCare offers members several benefits to help them start their health journey!
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More than 75% of SoonerCare members are not aware that diabetes education is a covered benefit. Here are four ways you can help:
1. Remind your SoonerCare patients:
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10 hours of training is free for first-time diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) users.
- 2 hours of training is free for each subsequent year.
2. Watch SoonerQuit’s DSMES and medical nutrition therapy webinar.
3. Become a DSMES provider:
- Meet qualifications.
- Complete the DSMES-specific enrollment process.
- Enroll your group in the DSMES program.
- Enroll each specific provider, connecting them to your DSMES program.
- If you don’t provide DSMES, refer your patient to a DSMES provider nearby. Search for “Diabetes Self Management” in the specialty dropdown menu on the provider search page.
- Questions? Contact provider enrollment at 800-522-0114, option 5, or ProviderEnrollment@okhca.org.
4. Optimize treatment and testing:
If you have questions about a particular medication, diabetes testing supplies or other pharmacy benefit questions, please call the Pharmacy Help Desk associated with your patient’s health plan.
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A Review of Transfer-Back Prior Authorization Requests
Transfer-back refers to a situation when a member has eligibility with a SoonerSelect contracted entity (CE) — Aetna, Humana or Oklahoma Complete Health — and loses eligibility with this CE but remains eligible with SoonerCare. In such situations, if a PA was approved for services with the SoonerSelect CE, upon transfer-back to SoonerCare, this PA can be retroactively continued. The CE-approved PA can be retroactively continued with SoonerCare for up to 90 days or until the original end date of the CE approval letter, whichever period is shorter, when requirements for a transfer-back PA submission are met.
Documentation requirements for all types of submissions for speech therapy can be found at SLP, and for physical and occupational therapy at PT/OT. Coverage for services in a transfer-back PA is limited to the specifics of the SoonerSelect CE PA approval letter. The CE approval letter must indicate whether the service is approved for PT or OT services.
Transfer-back situations usually occur at the beginning of each month. Because retroactive approval in a transfer-back PA request is tied to the specifics of the SoonerSelect CE PA approval letter, providers should routinely check eligibility and timely submit a regular PA request when retroactive approval is not being sought.
Q: How should I submit a transfer-back PA request on the OHCA provider portal?
When submitting a PA request through the provider portal, you must enter a start/from date and an end date for your request. The start/from date entered on the PA must be a present date, and the end date must be a future date. You must enter a present date even when a retro start date is needed. Entering any past date will automatically cancel a PA request. To account for this system requirement, it is important that the HCA-61 form provided describes the needed timeline for coverage.
Transfer-back PAs requests should have a timeline from the retro start date of up to 90 days or up to the original end date on the SoonerSelect CE approval letter, whichever is shorter. For example, a member has transferred back to SoonerCare on Feb. 1, 2026, and the clinic is submitting a transfer-back PA request on Feb. 20, 2026. If the member’s SoonerSelect CE PA approval letter shows an approval from Jan. 1 to July 30, 2026, then the transfer-back PA request’s HCA-61 form being submitted should reflect a timeline of Feb. 1 to May 1, 2026, or less, with CPT code units matching this timeline and what remains to be used. The PA request itself would be submitted from Feb. 20 to May 1, 2026, to comply with the provider portal system requirements.
If the provided SoonerSelect CE PA approval letter for the member in example has an approved timeline of Jan. 1 to Feb. 15, 2026, then the transfer-back PA submission’s HCA-61 form should reflect a timeline of Feb. 1 to Feb. 15, 2026, with CPT code units matching this timeline and what remains to be used. The PA request itself would be submitted from Feb. 20 to Feb. 21, 2026. to comply with the provider portal system requirements.
If the submission does not seek a retro start date relative to the date of the submission, this is no longer considered a transfer-back PA submission and should follow the requirements for a regular PA submission.
Q: How should I submit a transfer-back PA request when the OHCA provider portal will not allow this due to an eligibility conflict?
If a member had an approved PA with a SoonerSelect CE and was transferred back to SoonerCare, the service-rendering clinic is responsible for timely submitting a regular PA request or a transfer-back PA request seeking a retro start date with the OHCA to ensure continued coverage.
Transfer-back periods tend to be brief (usually a month), so a PA request must be submitted through the OHCA provider portal within this timeframe upon eligibility verification. Once the member is returned to a SoonerSelect CE, a PA submission on the provider portal will not be possible.
Providers should complete routine eligibility verification of their Medicaid patients to ensure timely PA submission on the OHCA provider portal. As a temporary solution, a transfer-back PA request seeking retroactive coverage can still be granted for those clinics that cannot submit their request in the provider portal.
To obtain a transfer-back PA approval in such cases, email TherapyAdmin@okhca.org with all transfer-back PA requirements attached in a single PDF. Include the following information in the email body:
- OHCA provider ID number with location alphabet.
- OHCA member RID number.
- Timeline for coverage (limit to within the transfer-back period).
- Primary diagnosis.
- Each line-item CPT code, associated units and modifier.
If the attached single PDF meets the transfer-back PA requirements for SLP or PT/OT, a PA number will be emailed back to the sender.
Oklahoma ABLE Tech operates its Device Reutilization Program in partnership with OHCA. This relationship ensures that valuable medical equipment is not wasted and instead benefits other Oklahomans in need.
Through this partnership, Oklahoma ABLE Tech sanitizes, repairs and reassigns donated equipment at no cost to recipients, with priority given to SoonerCare members.
If you're a SoonerCare provider and need additional information to ensure device return practices are being followed, please contact the Device Reutilization team at atreuse@okstate.edu or call 405-967-6010
To learn more or apply to receive DME, visit Oklahoma ABLE Tech’s Device Reutilization webpage.
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