Arkansas’ top insurance official has asked lawmakers to support the state’s application for a nearly $3.8 million grant to plan for creating an insurance marketplace under the health care law, money that Gov. Mike Beebe says he won’t seek unless he’s convinced the Legislature has changed its mind on the program.
Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford urged members of a legislative panel to contact Beebe and support the application for a health exchange grant from the federal government. The state faces a Sept. 30 deadline for the grant application, he said.
‘All you have to do at this stage is let us go forward with the planning process,’ Bradford said.
The grant would allow the state to continue planning for a health insurance exchange, but the idea has already faced obstacles in the Legislature. A bill authorizing the state to set up its exchange stalled in the Legislature earlier this year over objections to the federal health care law.
The federal law created a new stream of federal funding for health care: tax credits to subsidize private insurance coverage for people participating in new state marketplaces called exchanges. They open for business in 2014.
Bradford and Beebe have said that by not authorizing the state to set up its exchange, the power for setting them up will instead be ceded to the federal government.
‘It’ll either be an Arkansas exchange or it’ll be a federal exchange,’ Bradford said. ‘We don’t have the luxury of waiting around here and giving it to the federal government while we’re waiting around and hoping it will all go away.’
Republican lawmakers, however, complained that Beebe already has the authority to apply for the grant with or without their support.
‘Somebody’s got to make a decision and it’s not us … all that’s required is a letter from the governor,’ said House Minority Leader John Burris, R-Harrison.
Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor won’t apply for the grant without an indication that there’s support from the Legislature, particularly lawmakers who had opposed setting up a health exchange. DeCample said Beebe did not have a specific number of the 135-member Legislature that he was waiting for as a sign of support.
‘We need a strong enough indication from the legislature to show that there’s consensus to pursue these grants,’ DeCample said.
The state would use $1.5 million of the grant money for a ‘public education’ campaign. Bradford said that the state had scaled down its application from about $20 million in the hopes of getting lawmaker support. If it applies for the grant, the state likely would want to seek another $15 million in December, he said.
Bradford said he’d be less likely to seek money in December if lawmakers don’t back the current application.
‘We would really have to think hard to see if we could possibly convince the federal process that we could comply or even be ready without the planning money at this point in time,’ Bradford said.
Topics Legislation
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