Welcome to Thanksgiving Week, Oklahoma! It’s going to be a rainy start to the week — and if you’ve been on Facebook much this weekend, you may have seen that next Monday (Dec. 1) could be an icy start to the week. Stay tuned. Those forecasts can change a ton over just a few days.

I’m battling my first nasty cold of the entire year, and I’ve just been miserable aside from the access to Sudafed and my wife’s TLC. Sudafed is the only medicine I know that can make you want to clean the baseboards while you still feel downright yucky.

Our first two stories this week go hand-in-hand. Oklahoma Watch has the second in a series of stories about the lack of competition in the homeowners’ insurance space, which could be a driver of higher prices for Oklahomans. And then, coincidentally, I’m sharing my conversation with Kimberly Robbins, who is the board president of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Association of Realtors (OKCMAR), about that very issue and how Realtors can help.

Finally, it’s a story from KOSU about a rise in the need for behavioral health care across the state — and I’m sure it’s an even higher need during the holiday season.

I’m grateful to each of you who opens this email every single day. ‘Oklahoma Memo’ is now 10 months old, believe it or not.

Thankful!

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By JC Hallman, Oklahoma Watch
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As the Oklahoma homeowners insurance market has come under intense pressure, Insurance Commissioner Glen Mulready has said that the market is highly competitive, citing the total number of insurers in the market — about 100 licensed to write policies and 50 actively doing so.

In October, in response to a critical letter from Attorney General Gentner Drummond, Mulready offered additional evidence of a highly competitive market: federal standards.

Oklahoma Watch’s investigation into the history of Oklahoma insurance legislation and measures of market concentration — that is, how economists quantify competition — revealed the shortcomings of those tools to evaluate competition in the Oklahoma homeowners market.

Editor’s Note: This story is an addendum to Oklahoma Watch’s Nov. 20, 2025, story on competition in the Oklahoma homeowners insurance market.

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By Ryan Welton, Oklahoma Memo
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Home insurance prices in Oklahoma are now roughly triple the national average, a trend drawing attention from buyers, sellers, and policymakers. Kimberly Robbins, president of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Association of Realtors (OKCMAR), says Realtors are increasingly helping clients factor insurance costs into every stage of a transaction.

Robbins noted that while weather history plays a role, the impact on consumers is unavoidable — and shopping around is essential. She said that Realtors help buyers compare coverage, evaluate risks tied to specific properties, and understand how insurance affects affordability.

OKCMAR also uses its regional MLS data to guide clients and inform policymakers on market trends. “Homeownership is still one of the most powerful ways to build wealth,” Robbins said, adding that understanding the full cost of ownership is more important than ever.

Despite rising premiums, she emphasized that Oklahoma remains one of the better-value housing markets nationally, provided buyers work with experienced real estate professionals who stay on top of local conditions.

This conversation is available on YouTube and wherever you get podcasts. Please subscribe, follow, and leave ‘Oklahoma Memo’ a 5-star review to help the podcast reach more people.

By Sierra Pfeifer, KOSU
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Oklahoma City's mental health system is overburdened and underutilized, according to a recent community needs assessment.

The assessment finds OKC has significant behavioral health service needs, characterized by surging numbers of people experiencing mental health and substance use problems and a treatment system hobbled by structural and resource deficits.

The report, prepared by the Healthy Minds Policy Initiative, highlights Oklahoma City’s resilience and growth, but argues high levels of poverty, housing instability and food insecurity are preventing tens of thousands of residents from accessing necessary care.

Adults living below 200% of the federal poverty level are projected to account for 44% of those with serious mental illness in Oklahoma City, despite making up 35% of the total population.

The report also found that the absence of robust community alternatives is leading to an overreliance on emergency and high-acuity settings, like emergency rooms or 911 calls.

“Oklahoma does a really good job when it comes to responding to things, but I think we need to use that same skill for preventative things. We don’t need to wait until the floor falls out before we start making sure our foundation is solid,” a stakeholder quoted in the report said.

More people still go to emergency rooms for mental health-related emergencies than to urgent recovery or crisis centers, the report found. Between 2019 and 2024, behavioral health-related ER visits among people in the safety-net behavioral health system rose by about 56%, while visits to urgent recovery or crisis remained steady.

This overuse indicates significant gaps in community-based prevention and crisis response programs, as ERs are often ill-equipped for mental health emergencies.

Click here to finish the story.

Editor’s note: Links requiring subscriptions have an *.

A hand-curated list of the best journalism from across the state:

• Coal County Sheriff responds after State of Oklahoma files accusation for his removal (KXII)

• From the U.S.-Mexico border to Oklahoma’s backroads: Why deep reporting matters (The Frontier)

• Listen to KGOU’s Oklahoma Future Forum: Medicaid event (KGOU)

• Oklahoma Chronicle: What issues are going to drive gubernatorial race? (KOCO)

• Oklahoma’s education ranking: What can be done to improve? | Beyond the Bell (News 9)

• MacKenzie Scott gives $17M to Oklahoma's oldest public community college (The Oklahoman)*

• Tulsa International Airport anticipates holiday travel surge (Public Radio Tulsa)

• Williams Route 66 Marathon brings in thousands of runners to the Tulsa metro, see who won this year (News On 6)

• Health insurance 'crisis on our hands': Many could see ACA, other premiums doubling (Tulsa World)*

• Oklahoma wildlife officials ask Drummond to butt out of pending cases amid tribal hunting conflict (KOSU)

• Oklahoma voters could eliminate property taxes (Oklahoma Voice)

• Can Oklahoma communities make data centers less of a nuisance? (KOSU)

• Appeals court considers Oklahoma school bathroom law (Oklahoma Voice)

• Oklahoma Supreme Court hears challenge to initiative petition law (KGOU)

• Tulsa philanthropic fund looks to raise $120M for affordable housing (Public Radio Tulsa)

• FC Tulsa loses 5-3 in USL final, but it’s the fans who have come out as winners after amazing turnaround season (Tulsa Flyer)

• Sand Springs teachers awarded $100K to dream up new passion projects (Tulsa Flyer)

• Oklahoma Memorial Stadium capacity to drop by 7,000 seats with west side renovations; See renderings (Tulsa World)*

• Ex-KFOR anchor now leading PR efforts at state Education Department (The Oklahoman)*

• Victim’s family seeks support after Oklahoma City metro crime spree (KOCO)

• Tulsa County juvenile detention employee suspended amid police investigation (News On 6)

• Jury convicts man in 2024 shooting death of girlfriend (Oklahoma City Free Press)

• Yukon residents challenge City’s spending on Route 66 sign project (KFOR)

• National beauty retailer to join Grove Marketplace in north OKC (The Oklahoman)*

• 'Huge impact': New program coming to Okmulgee to address poverty (2 News Oklahoma)

Cloudy, rainy and cool.

🌡️ Monday's high in OKC 65°
🌡️ Monday’s high in Tulsa 59°

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