Hutchinson: 1 session best for roads, care

Private-option meeting near

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday that he will unveil his recommendations for highway funding on Jan. 19 and will meet Feb. 1 with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell to discuss changing the state’s private-option program.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday that he will unveil his recommendations for highway funding on Jan. 19 and will meet Feb. 1 with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell to discuss changing the state’s private-option program.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday that he prefers to hold one special session, rather than two, for the Legislature to consider changes to the state's Medicaid program and increased funding for highways.

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Gov. Asa Hutchinson takes questions Wednesday at a news conference in his office.

In a wide-ranging news conference in his office, the Republican governor announced that he'll meet with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell on Feb. 1 in Washington to discuss changes that he wants to make in the private-option program, which uses federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for some low-income Arkansans.

Hutchinson also said he'll release his recommendations to increase state funding for highways on Jan. 19.

"It would make a lot of sense if you had one special session to include all of the issues that are on the table at that point," he said. "I would expect that to be the result, but I would want to keep my options open in the event that legislative leadership would reach a different conclusion."

Hutchinson said he hasn't decided on when he'll call the Legislature into a special session, but he doesn't expect to call a session on highways before the March 1 primary election.

Last month, he said he plans to call a special session to consider changes to the Medicaid program in April. The Legislature's fiscal session begins April 13.

House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, said in an interview that he's expressed to the governor the pros and cons of holding separate special sessions or a single session.

"I want to see what the proposals are going to be from the General Assembly side and the governor's proposals on these topics to see if they can be merged [into one special session]," he said.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, said in an interview that it would be difficult in a three-day special session to enact legislation for highway funding and also change the Medicaid program and private option.

He said he would prefer to have separate special sessions, but remains open to holding a single session. He said he hasn't talked to the governor yet about the matter.

Granted in 2013, the state's waiver for the private option issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services allowed Arkansas to expand its Medicaid program primarily by using federal dollars to buy health coverage for enrollees on the state's federally run insurance exchange.

Almost 199,000 Arkansans were covered by the program as of Nov. 30, the most recent figures available.

The changes that the governor wants in the program include charging premiums to enrollees with incomes above the poverty level, subsidizing coverage through employer plans for those with access to job-based coverage, and requiring referrals to job-training programs for unemployed enrollees.

The state will be required to pay 5 percent of the cost of the Medicaid expansion starting in 2017 and its share of the program will gradually increase to 10 percent by 2020.

To cover the state's share, Hutchinson has said he wants to trim the state's spending on the traditional Medicaid program by at least $50 million a year. Because the federal government pays about 70 percent of the cost of the traditional Medicaid program, reducing state spending by $50 million annually means reducing overall Medicaid spending by about $167 million a year.

In his meeting with Burwell and other federal officials on Feb. 1, Hutchinson said he'll be joined by Arkansas Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe as well as Dismang and Gillam.

"Leading up to that, a lot of work will be done in terms of working with [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] and trying to fine-tune some of the elements of the waiver [for the private option], changes that we are requesting and the new model under Arkansas Works," he said. Hutchinson wants to call the revised program Arkansas Works.

Hutchinson said he wants federal officials to allow the state to automatically refer to worker training the able-bodied adults who apply for coverage through the private-option program.

"I do not want to have a continued Medicaid expansion without the emphasis upon work, the opportunity to work, moving up the economic ladder and increased emphasis on personal responsibility and program integrity," he said.

Asked whether the federal government would block the state from requiring private-option participants to attend worker training, Hutchinson said, "We are going to ask for as much of a requirement as we can. We'll see what we wind up with."

As for his search to replace departing Department of Human Services Director John Selig, the governor said he expects to start interviewing some candidates by mid-January.

Last month, the Governor's Working Group on Highway Funding sent Hutchinson a wide range of options to increase state funding for highways, including raising state taxes on motor fuel to varying degrees and shifting existing revenue from other parts of the state's budget to the highway fund.

The group focused on finding immediate sources of funding to meet the short-term needs of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department with a goal of netting $110 million in additional revenue annually over the next one to three years.

Since state dollars for roads are split among the Highway Department and cities and counties, a short-term target of $160 million total would be needed, the group's report said.

Hutchinson said his recommendations to increase state funding for the highways are "a work in progress."

"But we are continuing to work with all the interested parties to try to come with something that we can get through the Legislature," he said.

The reauthorized federal highway law that allows for increased federal funding for the states requires $45 million to $50 million in matching funds for the state to access the authorized federal funds, he said. He said he doesn't want to "leave $200 million of federal highway money on the table because we cannot meet our matching fund requirements."

Hutchinson reiterated that his recommendations for increased state funding for highways will be revenue neutral.

On an unrelated topic, Hutchinson also said the number of state inmates in county jails has declined from more than 2,900 last spring to 1,142. As of Wednesday, there were 16,162 inmates in prison, according to the state.

"I think it is reflective of trying to balance an effective parole system, using our policies, and also increased prison space that have we have accomplished as a result of the legislative session and increased investment."

Information for this article was contributed by Spencer Willems of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Metro on 01/07/2016

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