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A proposal offered by a group of legislators as an alternative to Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s managed-care plan will not be included in the governor’s call for a special session next week on Medicaid, a spokesman for Hutchinson said Tuesday. The governor has said he will call a special session starting April 6 to ask lawmakers to consider his plan for continuing and modifying the state’s Medicaid expansion program and his plan to contract with a private company or companies to manage parts of the state Medicaid program. (Lyon, 3/30)

Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said the governor has no plans to offer for consideration a plan supported by some legislators aimed at curbing the growth in state Medicaid spending without hiring managed-care companies. Hutchinson believes that the managed-care plan is "the best plan to achieve the savings we're looking to achieve," Davis said. To the contrary, state Rep. Michelle Gray, R-Melbourne, a managed-care opponent, said Hutchinson should include proposals by proponents and opponents of managed care on the special session agenda. "I'm disappointed that he's not going to let the Legislature decide policy," she said. (Davis, 3/30)

Hutchinson wants to modify the Medicaid expansion, which he is renaming Arkansas Works, and to utilize managed care, which he says will reduce Medicaid costs. But an alternative plan called Diamond Care is being circulated by some lawmakers, including Representative Justin Boyd. "There's not real clear data that (managed care) does everything it's being promised to do,” Boyd said. "There is concern it might not (save money), or that it may actually cost more." Instead of contracting out managed care services, Diamond Care would hire companies with incentives to reduce costs and work to improve efficiency in the state’s Medicaid system. (Hibblen and Whites-Koditschek, 3/29)

After clearing a key Senate committee Monday, sponsors of the bill to reauthorize Medicaid expansion are making sure they have the votes needed to pass the full Senate. At a press conference Tuesday morning, lawmakers and advocates urged senators to pass the legislation – saying 48,000 newly-insured people will keep their coverage without costing taxpayers more money. Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley has been a key supporter of the measure. “This is a bi-partisan plan, it’s a New Hampshire plan – it’s not Obamacare. It involves 48,000 of our friends and neighbors, many of whom do not qualify for the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. It’s helped make a more productive work force.” (Sutherland, 3/29)

Hampshire's expanded Medicaid program has been one of the top State House policy debates this year. But it's something local governments are mulling over as well. In City Halls across the state, officials say the program has led to some significant savings: in the slice of taxpayers’ money set aside for medical and prescription aid, and indirect savings in other areas. (McDermott, 3/26)

States that expanded Medicaid programs using federal funding are reaping economic benefits, a new study finds as the long-running healthcare debate rages anew in Tennessee's legislature. Tennessee is among 19 states that have, thus far, opted to not expand coverage to those who fall in the uninsured gap between qualifying for traditional Medicaid and being qualified to buy insurance on the federally run exchange. (Fletcher, 3/28)