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Arkansas lawmakers broke a stalemate over the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion Tuesday after Democrats acceded to an unusual plan that'll require them to initially vote to end the subsidized health insurance for thousands of poor people. The Joint Budget Committee endorsed a Medicaid budget bill that includes a provision ending the program, which uses federal funds to purchase private insurance for the poor, on Dec. 31. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he'll veto that provision, which would allow lawmakers to effectively fund the expansion by upholding his decision with a simple majority vote. (DeMillo, 4/19)

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill Wednesday. Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Gravette, the governor’s nephew, presented the amendment as a way to maneuver around the opposition of 10 Republican senators who have blocked funding for the governor’s Medicaid expansion plan, titled Arkansas Works. Nine votes are enough to block an appropriation bill requiring a three-fourths vote in the 35-member Senate. (Lyon, 4/20)

The Medicaid expansion, enacted by the Legislature in 2013, extended coverage to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,394 for an individual, for instance, or $33,534 for a family of four. Most of the 267,000 people covered receive the coverage through what is known as the private option, which uses Medicaid funds to buy private insurance coverage. The Arkansas Works legislation approved in the special session makes changes that Hutchinson has said would encourage enrollees to stay employed and take responsibility for their health care. (Wickline, 4/20)