No part of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's general plan to change the state's Medicaid expansion is off the table after his meeting with the U.S. health and human services secretary, the governor said Thursday.
However, Hutchinson said President Barack Obama's administration is pushing for changes in how to encourage those covered under the state's private option to obtain work.
"The challenge is to -- because the punitive side is not something that this administration is interested in -- we're having to look at incentives, and we don't want to overload a program with incentives," Hutchinson told reporters after a joint meeting of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and the Arkansas Economic Developers group.
"We're looking at options to make this stronger -- the work incentive side of it, the personal incentive side of it."
The governor said he expected to present details on his talks with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell to the Health Reform Task Force on Feb. 17.
"We understand their limitations and they understand what we want. They're going to work to give us as much as they can within their own constraints," he said. "I'm going to continue to push. And this conversation hopefully will lead us to a strong Arkansas Works program."
The governor's plan to change the private option involves four elements: incentives for work, personal responsibility, program integrity and employer-based insurance expansion.
"Those are the four elements of it," he said. "They're still intact. None of those have been rejected, but we want to be able to push the envelope for each one of those to get as much as we can to make those successful."
He didn't specify how those elements would be achieved in brief comments to reporters on Thursday.
Arkansas Works is the new name Hutchinson has proposed for the state's expanded Medicaid program, including a revamped private option.
The private option currently covers about 200,000 low-income Arkansans. The program uses Medicaid funds to buy health insurance through the state's federally run insurance exchange for adults within a certain income range.
The Legislature will decide whether to keep the Medicaid expansion during a special session that Hutchinson has said he plans to call in April.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, state Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe, state Medicaid Director Dawn Stehle and Hutchinson health care policy adviser John Martin also attended the 45-minute meeting with Burwell on Monday in Washington, D.C.
During the economic development meeting Thursday, Hutchinson said that keeping the state's Medicaid expansion is essential to increasing funding for roads.
In fiscal 2020, the private option will cost the state and federal government $2 billion, according to a projection from consultant The Stephen Group. The state will pay $173 million -- 10 percent of the cost -- but ultimately save $56 million during that year, the group said. Shifting people from traditional Medicaid to the private option, reducing state spending on uncompensated care and cutting private-option Medicaid waiver programs would account for the overall savings.
Hutchinson is counting on a net savings on the state's Medicaid bill -- along with surplus funds -- to increase funding for roads, which he called an important economic development tool.
"It's all tied together very carefully," he said.
At Thursday's meeting, the governor unveiled a new brand, Arkansas Inc., for economic development. The outline of the seal for the new brand resembles the diamond in the state flag; within the seal are the words "Arkansas Inc." The brand will be used to convey which Fortune 500 companies do business in the state.
In his talk, the governor did not mention discussions about cutting the InvestArk incentive program, nor did members of the audience ask him about it.
"I was surprised I didn't get a question in there," Hutchinson told reporters after being asked about the program's status.
In January, an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette analysis found that the program accounted for $110 million, or about 29 percent of economic development spending, from 2012-14. Top recipients included Tyson Foods, Georgia Pacific, Lion Oil, Domtar and Nucor.
InvestArk is a sales-and use-tax credit program available to businesses that have been established in Arkansas for at least two years and that invest at least $5 million at a single location in plant or equipment for new construction, expansion or modernization, according to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission's website. It does not require job creation.
"I've asked Mike Preston to review our economic incentives and InvestArk is one of those," he said, referring to the development commission's director. "He's given me some different options. I'm going to be meeting with some of the businesses that are concerned about whether they lose that and the impact that it might have. You know, we're still into discussions, but but it's something that is still being reviewed."
Information for this article was contributed by Andy Davis of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 02/05/2016