Hutchinson stays quiet on Medicaid private option

Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson addresses members of the media Tuesday at the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors legislative forum.
Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson addresses members of the media Tuesday at the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors legislative forum.

Gov.-elect Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday still demurred from announcing his opinion on the expansion of the Medicaid private option in Arkansas.

Hutchinson discussed the forthcoming legislative session, which starts Monday, at a forum hosted by the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors at the state Capitol.

The governor-elect said he plans to make a "major speech" on health-care reform in the state sometime toward the end of the month.

"It's important to consider [the private option] in the context of overall health-care reform," Hutchinson said. "The legislature doesn't want to see a piecemeal strategy but overall reform so they can see long-term costs and impact to state."

Both Arkansas House Speaker Rep. Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and state Senate President Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, expressed that they would like to see the private option issues resolved early in the legislative session, but that they want to make sure that new legislators have time to educate themselves about the program and the issues facing it.

Dismang, who was one of the legislative creators of the private option, said he wouldn't give up on the program even if it isn't addressed early in the session.

"To step aside and let the program go away, no that's not the position I see myself in," Dismang said. "There are valid concerns about long-term cost, a cost we have to consider and when we were building program initially tried to take into account."

In addition to dealing with the private option, one of the most challenging parts of the session will be addressing prison changes, Hutchinson said.

With a prison population of 17,800, the prisons are overcapacity by 3,500, with an additional 2,100 prisoners in county jail backups, Hutchinson noted.

He said he has tasked newly appointed Arkansas Department of Correction Director Wendy Kelley with presenting options for easing prison crowding besides just building new facilities.

While new facilities will be part of the equation, Hutchinson said, he expects other solutions, including overhauling the parole system to create more accountability, changing offender behavior and putting more money into the prison system.

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Arkansas House of Representatives Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and state Senate President Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, speak to media about the upcoming legislative session at the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors forum Tuesday.

Hutchinson noted that Gov. Mike Beebe did not have any provisions in his budget to pay for any additional prison expenses.

During the forum, Hutchinson also discussed his plan for middle-class tax cuts, the state Highway and Transportation Department's needs, school consolidation and more.

See Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.

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