FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 5, 2024
CONTACT
J. Robertson, Public Affairs Director
OPPORTUNITY ARKANSAS SUBMITS PUBLIC COMMENT ON ARKANSAS MEDICAID WAIVER AMENDMENT, CALLS FOR REAL WORK REQUIREMENTS
LITTLE ROCK, AR – Opportunity Arkansas Foundation has submitted an official public comment on the Arkansas Department of Human Services’s (DHS) proposed “Pathway to Prosperity” Medicaid waiver amendment.
Opportunity Arkansas strongly supports Governor Sarah Sanders’s vision of Medicaid as a safety net rather than a dependency trap for able-bodied adults but warns that the current proposal from DHS falls far short of delivering meaningful reform.
In fact, the proposed waiver amendment may fail to deliver any cost savings, does not include a real work requirement, and ignores the state’s past success as a Medicaid reform leader.
Key concerns outlined in the comment include:
- NO REAL WORK REQUIREMENT: The proposal lacks a minimum standard for work or work-related activities, relying instead on suggested compliance with “personal development plans,” devised by “success coaches,” with no clear expectations.
- NO REAL CONSEQUENCES: Noncompliance carries vague, minimal consequences, allowing able-bodied, working-age enrollees to stay on Obamacare Medicaid with virtually no accountability.
- A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR REAL COST SAVINGS: The projected savings are negligible—less than one percent of total Medicaid spending—compared to the potential of a robust work requirement. It is possible that even these tiny savings never materialize.
- THE REQUIRED CONTINUATION OF THE FAILED OBAMACARE “PRIVATE OPTION” MODEL: The proposal doubles down on Arkansas’s costly “private option” approach which has massively increased taxpayer costs without delivering on its promised benefits.
- THE IGNORING OF PAST SUCCESS: The proposal not only downplays Arkansas’s historic 2018-2019 work requirement—which boosted work participation and reduced dependency—but also potentially undermines future efforts to obtain a real work requirement.
- A VULNERABLE LEGAL STRATEGY: The amendment’s framework remains highly vulnerable to court challenges, ignoring proven strategies from states like Georgia that have seen their Medicaid work requirement upheld in court.
In the public comment, Opportunity Arkansas urges DHS to revise this proposal to include a true work requirement—mirroring the successful work requirement in the state’s food stamp program and Medicaid under Governor Asa Hutchinson—and adopt real, cost-saving reforms to ensure those who can work are moved toward work and the program is refocused on the truly needy.
Founder and CEO Nic Horton offered the following statement:
“Arkansas once led the nation with a Medicaid work requirement that worked. This proposal risks squandering that legacy and will not help move able-bodied adults from welfare to work, nor protect taxpayers. With strong, willing federal partners in Washington D.C., we can do better—and we must.
DHS should go back to the drawing board and deliver a real work requirement that aligns with Governor Sanders’s vision and Arkansans’ values. This proposal is not it. If they fail to do so, the legislature—which was completely cut out of this process—should intervene and force major changes.
States around us and all over the country, including purple states like Ohio and Georgia, are moving forward with real work requirements. Why isn’t Arkansas?
It’s time for Arkansas to be a national leader in welfare reform again.”
To read the full public comment, click here.
For meetings, bookings, or interviews, contact J. Robertson via email at [email protected].
About Opportunity Arkansas Foundation
Opportunity Arkansas Foundation is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization on a mission to renew the Land of Opportunity by simplifying government and solving generational problems for the next generation. OA stands ready to partner with state policymakers who share these goals. To learn more, visit www.OpportunityArkansas.org.
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