The task force studying alternatives to Arkansas' private option Medicaid program decided Monday to seek approval to broadcast future meetings through an Internet video feed.
The Health Reform Legislative Task Force also authorized its chairmen, Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, and Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, to work with the Bureau of Legislative Research on preparing the solicitation for a consulting company to help the task force make recommendations.
Hendren said he hopes to have a request for proposals issued within about a week and for the consultant to be hired by May 15.
The consultant's report will be due Oct. 1, and the task force will make its recommendations by Dec. 15, Hendren has said.
Act 46, signed last month by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, created the task force and directed it to recommend "an alternative health care coverage model" by the end of this year that would replace the private option no later than Jan. 1, 2017.
Hendren said the task force will send a letter to House of Representatives leaders asking permission to use House video equipment, personnel and committee rooms to broadcast the meetings.
The meetings will be broadcast as long as an equipped room is available, provided that the room has enough space to accommodate those wanting to attend in person, Hendren said.
Under the private option, the state uses federal Medicaid funds to buy coverage for low-income adults on Arkansas' federally run health insurance exchange.
The state created the program in 2013 as a primary way of extending Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level: $16,105 for an individual, for instance, or $32,913 for a family of four.
As of Jan. 31, 195,520 Arkansans were enrolled in the program, according to the state Department of Human Services.
The Human Services Department also reported that 23,516 newly eligible adults had been added to the traditional Medicaid program because they were considered to have exceptional health needs and that 14,482 people had been approved for coverage but had not yet completed enrollment.
Hutchinson called for the creation of the task force nine days after taking office in January and called on the Arkansas Legislature to continue funding for the private option through 2016. He signed legislation last month that will continue the funding through the end of the fiscal year, which starts July 1.
The replacement program the task force will recommend would take effect the same year Arkansas is required to begin paying 5 percent of the cost of covering newly eligible adults.
The state's share of the cost will then rise every year until it reaches 10 percent in 2020.
The 16-member task force includes eight who have voted in previous legislative sessions to authorize funding for the private option.
Metro on 03/24/2015