Thompson not staying as state surgeon general

Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Joe Thompson listens to questions during a joint meeting of the House and Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committees in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, July 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)
Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Joe Thompson listens to questions during a joint meeting of the House and Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committees in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, July 24, 2014. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

LITTLE ROCK — Joe Thompson, who has served as Arkansas' most high-profile health official for nearly a decade and was a key advocate for the state's compromise Medicaid expansion, won't be reappointed to the post next year, Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday.

Hutchinson confirmed the decision shortly after Thompson said the incoming Republican governor had told him he wouldn't stay on in the job next year. Thompson had been appointed the state's chief health officer in 2005 by Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee. Two years later, he was named the state's first surgeon general by Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe.

Hutchinson said a new surgeon general would give him a new perspective at the future of the state's health issues, including the "private option" Medicaid expansion, which is using federal money to purchase private insurance for the poor.

"He's done a great job, but we have to have a fresh look at all of this and I think a new surgeon general will help us to have that fresh look," Hutchinson told reporters.

More than 218,000 people are enrolled in the program, which was crafted as an alternative to the Medicaid expansion envisioned under the health law.

But the future of the "private option" is in jeopardy after several opponents won seats in the Legislature. Hutchinson has said he'll announce in late January whether he'll support reauthorizing it, which would require a three-fourths vote from the House and Senate.

Hutchinson said his decision to not keep Thompson isn't a signal of where he's headed on the private option's future. He also said he's asked Department of Human Services Director John Selig, who worked with lawmakers to craft the program, to stay on in his post for now.

"I'm counting on him being there as we enter the legislative session," Hutchinson said.

Thompson has been a key figure in many health issues before the Legislature over the past several years, including Huckabee's successful push to ban smoking indoors and a tobacco tax increase lawmakers approved in 2009 to set up a statewide trauma care system.

Thompson said he planned to remain as director of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, a policy center that focuses on health research.

"While there is considerable political change now taking place in our state, I remain committed to improving the health of Arkansans," Thompson said in a statement.

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