Arkansas failed on Feb. 19 to renew the state’s expansion of Medicaid, which thus far has been a model of compromise for states that rejected Medicaid expansion outright. What is dismaying is that this compromise was showing some results for the folks who were not ordinarily covered by Medicaid in Arkansas, and, is seen as an innovation in health care reform.
The model uses federal Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance for thousands of low-income residents. More than 87,000 people have been enrolled, according to reports. But one of the representatives who voted against the bill to renew said the vote would show that Republicans in Arkansas are opposed to the Affordable Care Act.
