Arkansas group falls short in health law repeal effort

A group pushing to repeal an insurance expansion approved by Arkansas lawmakers earlier this year said it won't have enough signatures to put the proposal before voters in 2014.

The head of Arkansans Against Big Government said Wednesday that his group won't have the 46,880 signatures needed to place a referendum before voters on the plan to use Medicaid dollars to purchase private insurance for low-income workers. Lawmakers approved the "private option" as an alternative to expanding Medicaid under the federal health care overhaul law.

Thursday was the deadline for the group to submit its petitions. Chairman Glenn Gallas said the group had counted a little over 26,000 signatures.

Gallas said the group will push for defunding the private option when lawmakers convene in February for the legislative session.

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