Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Arkansas Legislature's And Governor's Maneuvers Extend Medicaid Expansion
The Associated Press: Arkansas GOP Governor Uses Veto To Save Medicaid Program
Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday effectively saved Arkansas' first-in-the-nation hybrid Medicaid expansion by voiding part of a budget bill that would have ended the subsidized insurance for more than 250,000 poor people. The Republican governor vetoed a provision in the Medicaid budget that ordered a Dec. 31 end to the program, which uses federal funds to purchase private insurance for the poor. (DeMillo, 4/21)
Arkansas News: Arkansas Works Funding Gets House OK, Governor’s Signature
The House approved Senate Bill 121, a bill to fund Arkansas Works and other Medicaid programs for the coming fiscal year, in a 76-13 vote a day after the Senate approved it in a 27-12 vote. Like most appropriation bills, the measure needed a three-fourths majority vote in each chamber to pass, or 75 votes in the House and 27 in the Senate. Before signing the bill, Hutchinson used his line-item veto power to veto a provision that would have required the program to end Dec. 31 of this year. (Lyon, 4/21)
KUAR (Arkansas Public Radio): Governor Hutchinson Uses Veto Plan To Continue Arkansas's Medicaid Expansion
While the Republican governor says Medicaid expansion will now continue, Senate President Jonathan Dismang and other backers are considering additional legislation to safeguard against legal challenges to their procedural move. Speaking to reporters after a taping of AETN's Arkansas Week, the Republican from Searcy said a measure could be adopted in a future special session to re-state the 2021 expiration date for Arkansas Works, that the governor puts back in place with his veto. (Hickey and Kaufman, 4/21)
Kaiser Health News: Using Novel Line-Item Veto, Ark. Governor Extends Medicaid Expansion
The Medicaid expansion covers more than 267,000 Arkansans who make less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level (about $16,000 for an individual or a little more than $33,000 for a family of four). The expansion came from a 2013 compromise between Republican lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe. It became known as the “private option” because the state received a federal waiver to use Medicaid funds to purchase private health insurance plans for most newly eligible beneficiaries. (Ramsey, 4/21)
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: Medicaid-Bill Ploy On Track
Hutchinson advocated the line-item strategy so the expansion's opponents could vote for a bill that ended the funding. Later that afternoon, Hutchinson made good on his promise and vetoed that portion of the bill, which will now go back to the Senate, where only a simple majority is needed to uphold or overturn a veto. (Wickline and Willems, 4/22)
