Bill fulfilling Hutchinson's health-care plan passes committee

Senate Majority Leader Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, is shown in this file photo.
Senate Majority Leader Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, is shown in this file photo.

A bill that would fulfill Gov. Asa Hutchinson's plan to extend the private option through the end of 2016 and to create a task force to overhaul Arkansas' Medicaid system beyond that has passed a Senate committee.

The Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor voted 6-1 on Wednesday morning after hearing from the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs. State Sen. Gary Stubblefield, R-Branch, cast the lone vote against it.

The panel also considered a separate bill that would end the private option at the end of this year, but it failed to pass out of committee by a 3-3 vote.

Hendren said opponents and supporters of Medicaid expansion can find things to like in Hutchinson's plan, which extends the private option but also formally sets its end for Dec. 31, 2016.

"I think all of us recognize it's a reasonable path forward that gives us an opportunity to look more carefully at the ramifications to the people and to the budget," he said.

Hendren briefly walked members through the bill, saying it avoids dual crises of "an abrupt change" in the current system and a potential legislative "stalemate."

He also dismissed concerns that the legislative task force the bill creates would wield too much power, saying it will not be able to enact any changes on its own.

"A task force can recommend," he said. "So the fear that the task force by its own accord can change eligibility or change criteria is simply unfounded."

Sen. Linda Collins-Smith, R-Pocahontas, later asked the committee to OK her bill to end the private option on Dec. 31, saying the state must be "responsible about how we pay for it."

The panel tied 3-3 with Stubblefield, state Sen. Scott Flippo, R-Bull Shoals, and the committee chairman, state Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, voting in favor of it.

Afterward, Collins-Smith said she was "a little surprised" the bill didn't pass and may seek to present another version this session.

"What we will do is talk to those legislators to see what concerns they might have and see if we can't bring them back to the table to repeal bad policy," she said.

Hendren said winding down the private option earlier than his bill called for could lead to "all kinds of chaos," including problems for the state's financial hospitals and people who have just begun receiving health care. He called Hutchinson's plan a "fair and reasonable way of dealing with this problem that is a tough problem."

"I think we need to be fair with people," he said shortly before the vote on his bill. "As you know, I didn't support the program and I think it's an unsustainable path ... But I also think you have to be fair with people."

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