Arkansas is expanding Medicaid further, with a rural focus

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state Rep. Jack Ladyman

Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, who expanded Medicaid in the largely rural and relatively poor state over objections from more conservative Republicans, is expanding it even more. A new program, financed mainly with federal money, aims to help women with high-risk pregnancies, rural residents with mental illness or substance-abuse disorders, and young adults deemed at risk for long-term poverty, such former foster children or the formerly incarcerated.

 

In announcing federal officials' approval Tuesday, Hutchinson said the program would focus primarily on rural areas: "We know that it will make a great difference for very vulnerable populations in Arkansas. . . . Arkansas’ maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the nation. Our infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the nation."

The program "was one of the final outstanding portions of Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion waiver that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services hadn’t approved," reports Hunter Field of the Arkansas Advocate. Medicaid in Arkansas is available to people in households with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. "The program will cost north of $16 million, and as with the rest of Medicaid expansion, the state will shoulder 20% of the cost (about $3.2 million) and the federal government will cover 80%, or about $13.6 million."

State Rep. Jack Ladyman, R-Jonesboro, chairman of the House Public Health Committee, said the program would be a "game-changer. . . . We have to fix our worst problems, and we feel like these are the worst problems."