Governor Asa Hutchinson is attempting to renew Arkansas’ Private Option Medicaid expansion, but the fate of this decision rests with the results of the Senate primaries. Hutchinson’s proposed alternative, Arkansas Works, would replace the Private Option, however many opposing politicians insist that Arkansas Works is too similar to the Private Option that is currently in place.
Watchdog.org discusses the debate further.
Hutchinson has proposed an alternative he is calling Arkansas Works that would take effect when the Private Option expires at the end of the year. But many state legislators see Arkansas Works as little more than a new name for the Private Option.
“It’s simply the Obamacare-expanded Medicaid Private Option 2.0, is all it is,” State Rep. Donnie Copeland, a Republican primary candidate in the Arkansas Senate’s 34th District, told Watchdog.org.
Hutchinson’s plan to ask the federal government for the Medicaid waivers necessary for Arkansas Works has already run into resistance from Sylvia Burwell, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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“Even with the exceptions, we’ve got a hugely expanded welfare program and the bill is going to come due shortly. I’m totally opposed to it,” Copeland said, noting that Hutchinson promised to end the Private Option — not just rename it.
The Private Option was designed to make Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion palatable to Republican lawmakers, but costs have rocketed past supporters’ projections. Arkansas Works is backed by a legislative task force created when lawmakers voted to end the Private Option.
For the stances of other candidates and more on the debate, read the full story here.
Photo by BBC World Service via Flickr CC License
