by - January 15, 2023 3:35 pm
Big factors affecting Arkansas’ Medicaid program loom in the near future. This legislative session will require clear healthcare and fiscal policy direction from Gov. Sarah Sanders and the new GOP…
by - April 5, 2022 4:24 pm
I’ve read a lot of columns recently that begin with the phrase, “If there’s one hard lesson we’ve learned from the pandemic ….” Well, this is not one of those…
by - October 29, 2017 9:47 am
Arkansas Children’s CEO Marcy Doderer remains hopeful that a federal fix to health care will be achieved. She’s also encouraged by a new state study to baseline Arkansas’ insurance market….
by - May 24, 2017 10:36 am
Arkansas’ Medicaid program saved more than $34 million in 2015 because of a program meant to reduce costs and incentivize care quality, a new report says. The 3rd Annual Statewide…
by - January 11, 2017 7:48 pm
The Department of Human Services has virtually erased a backlog of Medicaid eligibility cases that had reached 140,000 people earlier this year, Director Cindy Gillespie said in a letter sent…
by - December 7, 2016 6:59 pm
The Obama Administration has approved Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s waiver for his Arkansas Works program, his version of the private option, though the waiver offers stricter requirements than he wanted in…
by - October 17, 2016 2:01 pm
More than 301,000 Arkansans are either receiving health insurance through the private option or have been deemed eligible for the program as of the end of September – an increase…
by - October 7, 2016 5:39 am
A proposed cap by the Department of Human Services on therapies for Arkansans with intellectual and developmental disabilities drew opponents to a public meeting Wednesday, but a spokesperson for DHS…
by - September 2, 2016 2:17 pm
The man who oversaw Medicaid under President George W. Bush will be a senior advisor for Medicaid and health care reform for the state Department of Human Services. Beginning Sept….
by - August 23, 2016 4:54 pm
The number of private option recipients whose insurance premiums are being paid by the program reached 258,161 in July, up 55,000 more than in January. The number was 213,026 in…
by - April 5, 2016 6:46 pm
Hours after Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the Legislature would consider only his Arkansas Works legislation in a special session that begins Wednesday, legislators publicly released a bill they say will…
by - March 2, 2016 6:42 pm
A survey of voters by the Arkansas Hospital Association and the Arkansas Pharmacists Association found most Arkansans opposed to moving the state’s Medicaid population to a managed care system, both…
by - January 6, 2016 8:05 pm
The rate of uninsured residents in Arkansas and Kentucky, both of which expanded their Medicaid populations but in different ways, dropped significantly between late 2013 and late 2014 compared to…
by - December 29, 2015 11:34 am
Arkansas is one of 30 states that has expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and was the first of six states to do so through a federal waiver that…
by - December 17, 2015 3:14 pm
One day after giving the go-ahead to Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) to seek federal waivers for his Arkansas Works replacement for the private option, the Health Reform Legislative Task Force…
by - December 16, 2015 1:32 pm
Legislators gave Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) the green light to continue negotiations with the federal government for a waiver that would change and perhaps continue the private option in another…
by - December 8, 2015 9:03 pm
Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s proposed replacement for the private option, “Arkansas Works,” should encourage employer-based insurance, incentivize work, and ensure program integrity through a variety of means, including potentially an asset…
by - November 16, 2015 4:43 pm
The state’s Medicaid system could consider a payment model classifying inpatient hospital stays according to diagnosis and resources required for treatment as a way to incentivize efficiencies. If it’s adopted,…
by - October 29, 2015 12:18 pm
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) has rethought two of his seven proposed changes to the Medicaid private option, proposed renaming it “Arkansas Works,” and supports a managed care system for high-cost…
by - October 20, 2015 7:55 pm
Many of the 42,891 Arkansas Medicaid and private option recipients whom a consultant says may live out of state have already been terminated from those programs, legislators were told Tuesday…
