Sen. Ingram says Medicaid expansion staved off hospital crisis, new factors causing concern

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Sen. Keith Ingram, D-West Memphis, noted that a near decade of help from the state’s Medicaid expansion program has stabilized Arkansas’ health care system, but now a new set of circumstances is challenging hospitals’ financial health.

In an interview on Talk Business & Politics, the chair of the Senate’s Hospital and Medicaid subcommittee, said the private option, also known as Arkansas Works and ARHome, has been an effective “backstop” to guard against hospital closures, especially in rural parts of the state.

“The Medicaid expansion – Arkansas Works, ARHome – is going to be 10 years old in 2023. Without that backstop, we would’ve lost so many rural hospitals in Arkansas, like the states that surround us. They’ve had a tremendous amount of hospital enclosures. So what has happened is that staved off the financial crisis that other states have gone through until this point,” he said.

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/08/sen-ingram-says-medicaid-expansion-staved-off-hospital-crisis-new-factors-causing-concern/

Arkansas Legislature Passes Medicaid Expansion Program

By SARAH KELLOGG

The Arkansas Legislature has passed a new version of its Medicaid expansion program.

The House voted 64-34 Tuesday to pass Senate Bill 410, meaning it now goes to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, where if signed, the bill will become law.

The state’s current plan, Arkansas Works, is set to sunset, or end, this year. The new plan, entitled the Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me or ARHOME, would retain the current private insurance model for purchasing health plans for participants. Unlike Arkansas Works, there is no work requirement.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/arkansas-legislature-passes-medicaid-expansion-program

Rep. Michelle Gray, R-Melbourne, presents Senate Bill 410 to the House.

CREDIT ARKANSAS HOUSE

Supreme Court To Hear Arkansas Medicaid Work Requirement Case

By DANIEL BREEN

An upcoming case going before the U.S. Supreme Court could permanently halt Arkansas’ first-in-the-nation work requirement for some Medicaid recipients.

The requirement mandates that people receiving health insurance through the state’s Medicaid expansion program, called Arkansas Works, report 80 hours of work per month to an online portal. By the time the requirement was put on hold in April 2019, roughly 18,000 Arkansans had lost coverage for failing to comply with the requirement.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/supreme-court-hear-arkansas-medicaid-work-requirement-case

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson outlines the work requirement for certain Arkansas Works Medicaid recipients at a press conference on March 6, 2017.

CREDIT MICHAEL HIBBLEN / KUAR NEWS

Governor Hutchinson Issues Statement on Arkansas Works Case

LITTLE ROCK – Governor Asa Hutchinson issued the following statement on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear the case on Arkansas Works:

“I am grateful the U.S. Supreme Court will weigh the merits of this case. The ability of a state to conduct Medicaid demonstration projects like Arkansas Works is of national significance. It has always been our goal to provide healthcare to an expanded population of Arkansans while also providing tools for them to achieve economic stability and independence."