LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Medicaid officials say they're no longer proposing cuts to nursing home care and three other areas after lowering the program's expected shortfall to $61 million.
The state Department of Human Services last year had predicted a $138 million shortfall in the program.
DHS on Thursday released a new estimate on the amount of cuts they'll have to make in the program for the budget year that starts July 1 to make up for a funding deficit. The department lowered the projected shortfall after seeing the program come in under budget for the first half of the year.
The shortfall projection assumes that lawmakers approve $90 million in new general revenue funding and $140 million from the state surplus to help shore up the program's budget.