Medicaid contraction strains resources
The paring of the state’s Medicaid rolls has increased reliance on Cooperative Christian Ministries and Clinic as a health care provider of last resort, said the executive director of the nonprofit that treats the uninsured.
Lynn Blankenship said 224 patients listed CCMC as their primary care physician as of last week, up from the 150 it treated on average before the contraction of the state’s expanded Medicaid program. Funds from Medicaid, the federal and state insurance program for the poor and disabled, pay private health insurance premiums for people with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level under the Medicaid expansion known as
Arkansas Works.
According to information provided by the state Department of Human Services, there were 20,000 fewer enrollees at the end of last month compared to January.
“We’ve seen an increase of 35 percent since January,” Blankenship said of the number of people CCMC is treating, explaining there is a misperception the clinic is treating fewer people as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
“That’s a direct result of some of the enrollment and reporting issues we’ve seen with Arkansas Works,” she said.
“Because people think everyone has insurance, our donations have gone way down. But our patient base is increasing, and a larger percentage of our operating budget is going toward medicine and medical supplies. Times have been tight this year.”
In June, Arkansas became the first state to implement a work requirement for the expanded Medicaid program, putting about 5,400 enrollees who did not meet the requirement for June and July in jeopardy of losing coverage if they don’t report work activity or a qualifying exemption by the Sept. 5 deadline.
DHS said more than 43,000 people were subject to the work requirement in July. Failing to report work activity or exemptions for any three months in the calendar year will result in a loss of coverage.
Arkansas Works participants age 30 to 49 who make less than $680 a month and do not have a child living with them are required to report that they have worked 80 hours a month or participated in exempted activity for that many hours. Qualifying exemptions include going to school, volunteering, job searching or job training.
Enrollees 19 to 29 will be subject to the requirement next year.
DHS said beneficiaries should report work activity and exemptions each month using the http:// www.access.arkansas.gov website. Those without internet access can get assistance at local DHS offices,
115 Stover St. in Hot Springs, or by calling insurance carries who issued the policy.
Blankenship said assistance from CCMC counselors is available by calling 318-1153 to make an appointment.
A federal lawsuit challenging the waiver authorizing Arkansas to implement the work requirement was filed last week on behalf of three Arkansas Works participants. Attorneys representing them got a similar work requirement the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services approved for Kentucky’s expanded Medicaid program invalidated in June.
The judge who issued the ruling said HHS did not consider the waiver’s effect on the state’s ability to provide health care, which the judge said was Medicaid’s primary mandate.
The waiver Arkansas was granted in March did not allow it to lower income eligibility to 100 percent of the poverty level. Gov. Asa Hutchinson had sought the lower income cap as part of an initiative to reduce the state’s cost share by removing 60,000 people from the Arkansas Works program. DHS said there were
279,285 enrollees as of the end of last month. The state pays 7 percent of the cost to cover the expanded Medicaid population and will pay 10 percent in 2020 and beyond.