by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Arkansas lawmakers considered a variety of bills on Wednesday (April 14), but the main drama centered on the state’s Medicaid program. For the second day in a row, House members could not muster enough votes to approve a Department of Human Services budget that includes funding for a revamped Medicaid expansion program.

SB 55 outlines the spending for the state’s DHS Division of Medical Services budget, which includes Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. In 2013, Arkansas first adopted a Medicaid expansion program through the ACA, known as the private option. It struggled nearly every session to reach the three-fourths vote needed for passage as Republican opposition to the ACA hardened.

Under Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s oversight, the expansion program was reworked to include a work requirement and the program was renamed Arkansas Works. A lawsuit struck down the work requirement, but it has often barely cleared the 75% threshold needed for budget bills.

https://talkbusiness.net/2021/04/medicaid-expansion-bill-fails-in-house-for-second-straight-day/