by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)
Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Curtis Barnett said the state’s largest health insurance company is supportive of the governor’s new call for a COVID-19 pandemic emergency and a special session to loosen mask-wearing restrictions in public schools.
“We’re very supportive of what the governor outlined this week. I think what it does, it puts our priority clearly where it needs to be, which is on our children,” Barnett said in a Talk Business & Politics interview.
On Thursday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson declared a new pandemic emergency as the Delta variant of COVID-19 has spiked cases across the state. Hutchinson also said he would ask lawmakers in a special session to address a new law prohibiting mask mandates. He wants to loosen the restriction to allow local school boards to make a decision on the issue with regards to children under the age of 12, who do not qualify for a vaccine.
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