Senator Rapert Calls Again for “Private Option” Delay
Yesterday I reported that state Senator Jason Rapert announced (while attending AAI’s Monday town hall meeting in Conway) that he wanted the legislature to delay passage of the “private option” Medicaid expansion. Now the AP has picked up on the story.
According to a new report, Rapert reiterated his calls for delay this morning at the Capitol, saying lawmakers should take three weeks off to go talk to their constituents and then reconvene. Talk to your constituents? What a great idea!
There is no good reason for Arkansas to rush through a plan that has only been public for a few days. This decision will affect the health care quality of all Arkansans and the pocketbooks of all taxpayers. Perhaps, as many have suggested, we should take time to get this one right?
Ideally, Senator Rapert would call for legislators to abandon the “private option” scheme altogether, but his decision is certainly a move in the right direction. I can live with delay, particularly if it means more time for Arkansans to study this plan and talk to their “representatives.”
Senator Rapert is making the right decision for taxpayers. Unfortunately, the House voted to pass the enabling legislation today, but the real test will be on the appropriations bill. It needs 3/4ths support to pass both chambers; it is hard to say whether or not the votes are there. The bill only got 62 votes today, but it will take 75 votes to fund it. As always, stay tuned to The Arkansas Project.com for updates.
Special bonus: Obamacare’s latest bait-and-switch! Bloomberg News is reporting on the Obama administration’s quiet admission that health care exchanges will cost more than double their original estimates — even though less than half of the states have implemented them.
Obamacare is crumbling. Arkansas Republicans shouldn’t give it a “hand up.”
Pingback: Arkansas senator again calls for Medicaid private option delay « Watchdog.org
Senator Rapert needs to quit representing Big Businesses and his own personal interests! SB 874 is a perfect example. Rapert seeks to have “fatigued” persons who cause accidents to be made felons…. Is this for accountability???…NO!!!… It is to protect big insurance companies!!!
Most people are unaware of a certain auto insurance statute which protects and gives immunity to insurance companies and prevents a victim of a felon crime being committed in a vehicle from receiving ANY financial compensation form the insurance company. If the Big Rig driver is convicted of a felony for hitting a school bus and killing and injuring children, then the parents have to pay the medical bills and the insurance company cannot be sued. See A.C.A. 23-89-205 and S. Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co. v. Easter, 374 Ark. 238, 287 S.W.3d 537 (2008):
23-89-205. Exclusion of benefits.
An insurer may exclude benefits to any insured, or to his or her personal representative,
under a policy required by § 23-89-202, when the insured’s conduct contributed to the
injury he or she sustained in any of the following ways:
(1) Causing injury to himself or herself intentionally; or
(2) Causing injury while in the commission of a felony or while seeking to elude
lawful apprehension or arrest by a law enforcement official.
History. Acts 1973, No. 138, § 4; A.S.A. 1947, § 66-4017.
Also, please review the following case law:
Because the Arkansas Supreme Court has previously construed this section to allow an insurer to avoid risks caused by the intentional misconduct of the insured and because the GeneralAssembly failed to require no-fault coverage for injuries suffered by innocent third parties in such circumstances, the trial court also erred in ordering the insurer to pay the claimants personal injury protection benefits under Arkansas’ no-fault law. S. Farm Bureau Cas. Ins. Co. v. Easter, 374 Ark. 238, 287 S.W.3d 537 (2008), rehearing denied, — Ark. —, — S.W.3d —, 2008 Ark. LEXIS 559 (Oct. 23, 2008
Talk about apples to orangutans.
1) This has nothing to do with the current discussion.
2) Even if it did, you need to read what you post. You said “If the Big Rig driver is convicted of a felony for hitting a school bus and killing and injuring children, then the parents have to pay the medical bills and the insurance company cannot be sued.” Apparently you didn’t read the part where (in your scenario) the law in question only prevents payouts to the driver, not to their victims: “…when the insured’s conduct contributed to the injury he or she sustained…” This law prevents the truck driver in your scenario from receiving insurance benefits, but it does not absolve the insurance company of its liabilities to the remaining victims. So, if the driver committing the felony racks up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, he is on the hook for those, but the kids on the bus are still protected.
Reading is fundamental.
Pingback: The Arkansas Project — Wow, Senator Rapert, That Was A Quick Three Weeks!