Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Ark. Lawmakers Advise Governor To Drop Medicaid Managed Care Plan For Now
House and Senate leaders told the governor late Monday that they don't want to consider a proposal to privatize parts of Medicaid administration in a special session set to begin Wednesday. In a letter to Gov. Asa Hutchinson, House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, said "there's not a consensus on the cost-savings strategy for traditional Medicaid at this time." J.R. Davis, a spokesman for the governor, said the governor will review the letter, consider the request and make a decision today. (Fanney, 4/5)
Hutchinson said previously there will be two — and only two — items on his call for a special session starting Wednesday: A proposal to continue and modify the state’s Medicaid expansion program and a proposal to allow the state to contract with a private company or companies to manage parts of the traditional Medicaid program as a cost-saving measure. In letters to the governor, House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and Senate President Pro Tem Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, said there is no consensus in either chamber on the latter proposal. (Lyon, 4/4)
Hutchinson said the [managed care] model is needed in order to produce savings when the state would begin sharing in the cost of Arkansas Works – 10% by 2020. The legislation would limit managed care to the areas of behavioral health and for services for the developmentally disabled, excluding the state’s human development centers for more seriously disabled residents. (Brawner, 4/4)
Arkansas political observers aren't betting the farm on whether the Republican-controlled Legislature will approve Gov. Asa Hutchinson's plan for renewing and modifying the state's widely acclaimed Medicaid expansion to low-income adults. Hutchinson, a Republican, has called lawmakers to Little Rock for a special session starting Wednesday to vote on his plan, dubbed Arkansas Works, a revised version of his Democratic predecessor's so-called private option version of expansion that helped cut the state's uninsured rate by more than half. About 225,000 people have received coverage under the existing program. (Dickson, 4/4)
