BILL SETTING early end to private option fails in committee.
A bill that sought to end the state’s private-option Medicaid expansion program on June 30, 2016, failed to pass through committee Tuesday.
Much of the legislative action Tuesday happened in House and Senate committees rather than on the chamber floors. The House and Senate each approved a handful of retirement-related bills and a few resolutions.
Meanwhile, the House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee heard one of a handful of bills filed to repeal the private-option program despite both chambers passing private-option legislation in the past two weeks. House Bill 1262, sponsored by Rep. Josh Miller, R-Heber Springs, failed on a voice vote.
Miller did not ask for a rollcall vote Tuesday. “I’m not going to belabor the point … but I feel like I owe it to my constituents and my co-sponsors’ constituents to run this bill,” he told the committee.
Senate Bill 96, by Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, to create a legislative task force to study changes throughout the state’s Medicaid program, cleared the Senate on Monday and was headed to Gov. Asa Hutchinson for signing. The measure allows the waiver that created the private-option program to expire at the end of 2016 and leaves it up to the task force to come up with ideas about what would happen next, which would need legislative approval before being enacted.
Through Arkansas’ private-option program, the state uses federal Medicaid dollars to purchase private health insurance for low-income adults.
The program extends insurance coverage to adults who have incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level — $16,105 for an individual, for instance, or $32,913 for a family of four. More than 180,000 Arkansans have enrolled in private health insurance through the private option, according to the state Department of Human Services.
The state would have to pay 5 percent of the bill starting in 2017 and its share would reach 10 percent in 2020 when Hutchinson said the state’s share would be more than $200 million.
Hutchinson has already signed an appropriation bill for the state’s Medical Services Division, which includes authorization to spend federal dollars on the insurance program. The $8 billion appropriation includes $1.9 billion for the private option through June 30, 2016.
Several other bills to end the private option early are lingering on both the Senate and House Public Health committees’ calendars.
Speaker of the House Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, said those bills will be considered.
“I don’t know what support there would be among the membership at this point on that. But we’ll treat them like all other bills and they’ll get a fair hearing in committee,” he said.
Gillam said House leaders will meet over the next few days to review applicants who have expressed interest in being appointed to the 16-member health care task force.
ETHICS ADVISORY OPINIONS
The Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee endorsed legislation to allow the state Ethics Commission to issue advisory opinions regarding Amendment 94, which voters approved in November.
Amendment 94 bars lawmakers from accepting certain gifts from lobbyists, bans direct corporate and union contributions to candidates, changed term limits and extended the one-year cooling-off period before a former lawmaker can become a lobbyist to two years.
The committee endorsed HB1002 by Rep. Warwick Sabin, D-Little Rock, after Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, explained that it would allow the Ethics Commission to issue advisory opinions between now and when the Legislature grants the commission authority to enforce Amendment 94.
Amendment 94 became effective on Nov. 5.
RETIREMENT BENEFITS
In a 34-0 vote, the Senate approved legislation to prevent Arkansas Teacher Retirement System members from working full time while drawing disability benefits.
Senate Bill 48, sponsored by Bill Sample, R-Hot Springs, would require system members who receive disability retirement benefits and are under 57 to provide a disability determination letter from the Social Security Administration by July 1, 2018.
If they don’t, they would lose their disability benefits.
About 700 of the system’s more than 40,000 retired members receive disability pay and are younger than 57, system Executive Director George Hopkins said. It’s not known how many disabled retirees are working full time.
Actuary Jody Carreiro estimated that between 70 and 210 of these 700 people would not be classified by the Social Security Administration as disabled and would have their benefits discontinued until they reach age 60.
He estimated that would reduce the system’s total liabilities by between $6 million and $19 million.
The House approved two Senate bills Tuesday, including SB75, by Uvalde Lindsey, D-Fayetteville, to allow up to 15 years of private-school teaching tenure to count toward purchased retirement benefits, and SB80, by Sample, to require state agencies that employ Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System eligible employees to report and make retirement contributions electronically.