The Warring Messages of the Private Option

May 17, 2013 5 Comments
38643_web_medicaid-signing

At the Saline County TEA Party meeting last week, Rep. Andy Mayberry told his constituents that the struggle over the private option made him feel like he was being forced to jump out of the third story of a burning building: There’s no way, if I just stand there, that I’m going to survive. I’m gonna burn. There’s a window over here that I can choose to jump out of and I might die in that fall. I know I’m going to die if I stay there and don’t do anything. But I might just survive … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

On the Arkansas Times, Part II

May 14, 2013 1 Comment
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David Ramsey of the Arkansas Times regularly distinguished himself this session with his thorough coverage of the debate over Medicaid expansion. His account of the creation of the “private option” -- perhaps the biggest increase in the size and scope of state government in my lifetime -- was educational and gripping. But occasionally his work told us more about David Ramsey than it did about Medicaid expansion. One of the areas where his article fell short was in his discussion of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Arkansas Media, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Health Care Boondoggle: Medicaid Doesn’t Improve Health Outcomes

May 2, 2013 4 Comments
piggybank320

Any government program is, by definition, a failure -- unless it improves peoples’ lives. Some conservatives think that improving people’s lives through government is difficult at best (and sometimes impossible), and that the burden of proof is on the advocates of social programs to demonstrate that they truly help people. I tend to agree. So I watched in disbelief as many Arkansas Republican legislators recently went along with Governor Beebe’s plan to expand the Medicaid program -- … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Arkansas Legislature, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Legislature Expands Medicaid, Spurs Arkansas Project Response

April 20, 2013 11 Comments
tap apology

Today, I have issued the following statement: On behalf of The Arkansas Project, the Advance Arkansas Institute, and the advocates of limited government everywhere, I want to extend my deepest apologies to citizens and taxpayers in both Arkansas and in America for the inappropriate and insensitive expansion of Obamacare engineered by (among others) our state's Speaker of the House Davy Carter last week. Speaker Carter’s expansion of government will stifle job growth, implement Obamacare, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

VIDEO: Greenberg, Roy Speak at Benton Medicaid Town Hall

April 16, 2013 1 Comment
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Here is some video I grabbed from the Medicaid town hall meeting in Benton last night. Two videos of Advance Arkansas Institute President Dan Greenberg, one of the Manhattan Institute's Avik Roy, and one with some comments from Rep. John Burris and Senator David Sanders, sponsors of Medicaid expansion: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Legislature’s Plan to Lock Arkansans Into Poverty

April 15, 2013 1 Comment
Medicaid state

The thinkers at Advance Arkansas Institute have released a new paper entitled, "How Medicaid Expansion (and the "Private Option") Will Lock Its Clients Into Poverty." The paper examines, among other things, how the healthcare plan being pushed through the legislature will trap the poor: Employers create jobs, and employers hire employees. The expansion of Medicaid will create large incentives for businesses both to reduce the work hours of their employees and to split full-time jobs into … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Gallery, Medicaid, Obamacare, Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Wow, Senator Rapert, That Was A Quick Three Weeks!

April 14, 2013 4 Comments
Before last year's election, Senator Rapert said expanding Medicaid would turn Arkansas into a "candy land" of entitlements.

Less than a week ago, Senator Jason Rapert announced at AAI’s Conway town hall that he wanted the legislature to delay passage of the “private option” Medicaid expansion. Less than 72 hours ago, Rapert reiterated his call for delay, specifying this time that the legislature needed to take three weeks off to go visit with constituents about the plan. Late last night, however, just 48 hours after re-issuing the call for delay across state media, Rapert announced his intentions to support the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Gallery, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Private Option” Clears First Hurdle in Senate, But Fight Is Just Beginning

April 5, 2013 2 Comments
Private option is Obamacare

This morning, by a vote of 24-9, the Senate passed SB1020 or the “private option” version of Medicaid expansion. Two members did not vote. While the passage of the bill is no doubt significant, this is only the beginning of a long legislative process. The bill now goes to the House and, assuming it passes there, it will go to the governor and become law -- but that’s not the end of the ballgame. The legislature also would have to pass a separate appropriations bill to fund the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 2013 General Assembly, Arkansas Legislature, Medicaid, Obamacare Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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