Rep. Collins: Health Care Reform Report Process Prevents Blindsiding

Legislators are getting a sneak peek at a consultant’s health care report in a controlled access setting so they won’t be “blindsided” with questions before having a chance to study it, the chairman of the Health Care Reform Legislative Task Force said Friday.

The long-awaited report was delivered as expected Thursday by The Stephen Group consulting firm. The Bureau of Legislative Research is producing hard copies and will open a room at the Capitol next Monday and Tuesday for legislative members to review it there. Access will be limited to legislators and the consultants, and legislators will not be able to take the copies from the room. Members of the consultant group will be at the Capitol or by phone to answer questions.

The report, which is expected to be hundreds of pages, will be released publicly at 10 a.m. Oct. 7, when the task force meets in Room A of the Multi-Agency Complex behind the Capitol. Members of The Stephen Group will present the report at that time. The report will be available at the Legislature’s website, www.arkleg.state.ar.us.

Collins said he decided to use that process along with the committee’s temporary co-chair, Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, in consultation with members of the task force.

“The goal here is, I don’t want the task force members to be blindsided when they come into the meeting the 7th having had zero opportunity to even look at it, and then already be trying to answer questions and/or formulate their own questions for the meeting on the 7th,” Collins said.

He later added, “This is going to be fully released to everybody. We also know that the voters are going to expect answers to questions, and I don’t think it’s fair to the task force members to expect them to have any ability to be prepared to ask or answer questions about a very, very lengthy report on extraordinarily controversial and complex questions having zero time to review anything.”

The Health Reform Legislative Task Force has been meeting this year to consider changes to the state’s overall health care system, particularly the so-called “private option” that uses Medicaid dollars to purchase private insurance for Arkansans whose incomes are below 138% of the federal poverty line.

It was created by law in the 2013 legislative session. Gov. Asa Hutchinson asked legislators to fund the controversial private option through fiscal year 2016 at the same time the task force would be considering health care reforms.

Collins said the release of the report represents the end of the information gathering phase of the process and begins what he called the recommendation phase. The task force by law will present its recommendations in a report due by Dec. 31. It will continue to meet next year to oversee implementation.

“What we’re going to have here over the next 60 to 90 days is an intense period of research, review, study, debate, analysis and decision making,” he said.

The task force next meets Nov. 10, followed by meetings Nov. 24 and two in December. Collins said he hopes that by the Nov. 24 meeting, “we’re starting to circle around a final set of recommendations.”