Private Option Divides Opponents

ROGERS -- Businessman Dane Zimmerman of Bella Vista challenged Rep. Sue Scott, R-Rogers, in her bid for a second term because she voted for the "private option" health care plan, he said in an interview.

"I think Sue Scott is a great lady and she sponsored one of my favorite bills, which would have allowed open carry" of firearms, Zimmerman said. "Ultimately, the private option is the reason I'm running against her. It's the largest single expansion of government in Arkansas history."

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Rep. Sue Scott, R-Rogers, State House District 95

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Dane Zimmerman

State House of Representatives

District 95

Republican

Name: Sue Scott

Age: 59

Residency: Rogers

Family: Husband, John; four children

Education: Vocational technical degree in office management, University of Arkansas Community College at Morrillton

Employment: Retired caterer and former owner of a day care

Military Experience: None

Political Experience: Arkansas State House of Representatives, 2013 to present

Name: Dane Zimmerman

Age: 30

Family: Wife, Jody; two children

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, University of Phoenix; pursuing a master’s degree

Employment: Owner, Ambassador Transportation in Bentonville, a taxi and executive car and driver service

Military Experience: 13 years in the Arkansas National Guard, 2001 to present

Political Experience: None

Voters will choose between the two in the May 20 Republican primary for the House District 95 seat. The winner faces no Democratic opposition in November's general election. The district stretches from Rogers through Bella Vista.

Scott voted for the plan that takes an estimated $900 million a year of federal taxpayer money. The money was earmarked for expansion of state-run Medicaid programs, but the state obtained federal permission to use it for subsidies for private insurance instead. The money will go to help pay the premiums of lower-income Arkansans who make too much in pay to qualify for pre-health care reform Medicaid.

Scott has no regrets for voting for private option, she said. She opposes federal health care reform but the controversial law survived a U.S. Supreme Court challenge. "We had to deal with Obamacare -- period," Scott said. "It is alive and we have to deal with it. Private option was truly a way out of Obamacare and it was the only way we had."

The state has no portion to pay for the plan in the first three years, but assumes an increasing share of the cost after that, up to 10 percent as the law currently prescribes. The private option law allows the state to back out of the program at any time if the federal government changes those obligations or the plan is found to not be working. "You're darned right I'll vote to end it if it's not working," she said.

An estimated 150,000 Arkansans so far have signed up for the private option.

"I'm not asking anybody to do what I wouldn't do. I don't have health insurance," Zimmerman said. "I don't have it because I can't afford it, but I'm trying to make enough money so I can. That's the solution, to have enough opportunities so people can afford their own insurance. That's what we should be concentrating on."

Well-meaning programs like health care reform are making the underlying problem worse by increasing the public debt and, ultimately, the tax burden that will be necessary to pay for it, Zimmerman said. That drags on the economy and lessens opportunity, he said.

"I don't think we're going to repeal the private option," Zimmerman said. "I will vote for that if we get the chance, but with 150,000 people signed up I don't think it will happen. I can't go back and vote differently from what Sue Scott did, but I believe that is not what the people of her district wanted and I will do a better job representing that."

Scott has heard very little outcry from constituents over the issue during this campaign, she said. She has two years of legislative experience, has a consistent voting record favoring tax reduction and has voted to override the governor's veto twice on social issues such as abortion that are important to her district. She also works hard at constituency service, helping district residents with problems in government.

"The job fits me well," Scott said. "I have a listening heart."

NW News on 04/21/2014

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