HOW WE SEE IT: Three Lawmakers Deserve Credit For Insurance Vote

The state is now well on its way to insuring another 250,000 Arkansans who didn’t qualify in the past for coverage through Medicaid.

Arkansas lawmakers knew long before this year’s session of the General Assembly started that expansion of Medicaid was a major, if not THE major, issue to be resolved. So much time was spent with the new GOP majority flexing its muscles on social issues it had never been able to pass, it began to look like the session might end without solving the Medicaid matter.

But Gov. Mike Beebe and lawmakers from both parties went to work to find elusive common ground on a measure many in the GOP tied directly to so-called Obamacare. Many had campaigned for office on a pledge to stand firm against the president’s expansion of government.

What couldn’t be stopped at the federal level, if they had their way, would be stopped at the state level.

And stopped it was. The federal government’s direct expansion of Medicaid won’t happen in Arkansas. Rather, the state will implement a package of federal- and state-backed subsidies to private insurance providers to help uninsured Arkansans get the coverage they’ve lacked.

Even that approach was no guaranteed success, but in the end, enough Republicans joined Democrats at the state Capitol to advance the private option to Medicaid expansion. Passage required 75 votes, a supermajority, and the appropriation passed with 77 votes. Among those were three Benton County Republicans - Reps.

Sue Scott of Rogers, Les Carnine of Rogers and Mary Lou Slinkard of Gravette - without whom the measure would have failed.

It took political courage, the kind that’s becoming rare, for these members of the GOP to back passage. They did so after hearing from local small businesses and individuals who knew the coverage was a necessity for the future, given other features of the federal Affordable Care Act.

“I am going to vote for this. I had originally said that I would not, but I’ve had too many phone calls from too many good, hard-working people,” Scott said on the House floor.

Carnine said he wanted more time, but House leadership didn’t give him that luxury. Without passage, the state faced implementation of health care reforms by the federal government. That appeared far less attractive than fellow Arkansans developing a plan.

We applaud these lawmakers for overcoming the vitriol and partisanship and voting not for the perfect, but for the best option available to the people of Arkansas at this moment in time.

CASUALTIES OF WAR To honor the men and women in our armed forces and remind our readers of their sacrifices, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers is publishing Department of Defense announcements identifying Americans killed in active military operations.

Army Sgt. Tristan M. Wade, 23, of Indianapolis died March 22 in Qarah Bagh District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 573rd Clearance Company, 2nd Engineer Battalion, White Sands Missile Range, N.M.

Army Sgt. Michael C. Cable, 26, of Philpot, Ky., died March 27 from injuries sustained when his unit was attacked by enemy forces in Shinwar District, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.

Opinion, Pages 5 on 04/22/2013

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