To Understand The Private Option Split, Look To Saline County

Two representatives in one Arkansas county offer a microcosm of the GOP rift that has split Republicans over the fate of the private option.

Rep. Kim Hammer (R-Benton) and Rep. Andy Mayberry (R-Hensley) – two Saline County Republican lawmakers – appeared on Capitol View on Sunday to explain their opposite positions on renewing the funding for the private option.

The private option was crafted largely by Republican leadership and Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe to take Arkansas’ Medicaid expansion funds under the Affordable Care Act and apply them to a private health insurance pool to help lower income Arkansans.

With the 2014 fiscal session one week underway, House Speaker Davy Carter (R-Cabot) has scheduled a budget vote on the bill to re-fund the private option on Tuesday.

Hammer, a no vote in 2013 and a likely no vote at this time, said that he was still likely a no vote at this time. He and other House colleagues are listening to adjustments that have been made or could be made ahead of the Tuesday vote.

“I think some people are just waiting until the last minute to make sure that they hear all the information that’s necessary in order to make a vote that they think they can defend,” Hammer said.

“The over-under is 75,” Mayberry joked, alluding to the supermajority of 75 votes needed to pass budget bills in the Arkansas General Assembly. “With the amendments that have been added on, it’s made it more palatable to some and to others they didn’t like the amendments and it made it less palatable. So you don’t know if you’ve picked up some votes or lost some votes as well.”

The House will vote on an amendment to the budget bill that restricts the state from advertising the private option and it restricts navigators from steering eligible citizens into the insurance pool.

Some have argued that the advertising tab should be picked up by the insurance companies who are managing the private option plans. Alternatively, supporters of the private option have said that by not boosting enrollment with advertising and navigators the insurance marketplace will struggle to hit the actuarial numbers needed to be successful.

While Speaker Carter has said that he is done negotiating, few in the General Assembly believe that is a hard and fast position.

Hammer said that he would still like to see further ideas explored, such as a wind-down provision that was floated by Sen. Jim Hendren (R-Gravette).

“There are a couple of things that have at least been attempted to be put on the table that I’d like to see revisited,” Hammer said.

Mayberry said the advertising restriction is his least favorite amendment, but it won’t keep him from voting for the private option again on Tuesday. He is also interested in other ideas, such as a more robust encouragement for health savings accounts, but could any change pull his vote into the no column?

“Without a crystal ball, it’s hard to know what that is. I assume there is something,” Mayberry said, but argued he couldn’t identify a particular concern.

The House of Representatives convenes at 1pm on Tuesday. If it passes the private option, the debate heads to the Arkansas State Senate, where it passed by two votes in the 2013 session. Two Senators – one new, one old – have said they are now opposed to the private option.

You can watch the full interview with Hammer and Mayberry below.