In June 2018, when Arkansas became the first state in the nation to implement work requirements for certain Medicaid beneficiaries, Governor Hutchinson was triumphant. “We’ve wanted to establish a work requirement … for a long time,” he said at the…
Arkansas will not request a continuation of its controversial “work requirements” policy when it applies for federal approval to renew Arkansas Works, the state’s Medicaid expansion program, according to a spokesperson for the state Department of Human Services. But in…
A study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Arkansas’s Medicaid work requirement led to lower insurance rates among 30- to 49-year-olds in 2018, the group targeted by the first-of-its-kind work rule last year. The researchers also concluded that the policy did not lead to a rise in employment among this target population.
In a report released Monday, the state Department of Human Services said it had terminated the health insurance of another 4,109 individuals due to Governor Hutchinson's work requirement for certain beneficiaries of Arkansas Works, the state's Medicaid expansion program for low-income adults. Those people are now barred from Arkansas Works until Jan. 1.
What proposed state and federal changes mean for the future of health care policy in Arkansas.
On Thursday, the same day that Governor Hutchinson signed legislation approving “Arkansas Works 2.0,” his plan to enact changes to the state’s Medicaid expansion program, the U.S. House passed a bill that would undermine many of the program’s key tenets.
The Arkansas Nonprofit News Network is an independent, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to producing journalism that matters to Arkansans. Our work is re-published by partner newsrooms across the state.
