New Year, Same Asa. Thousands More Arkansans Lose Insurance Coverage.

Now 18,100 Arkansans have lost health coverage…

Yesterday as Asa Hutchinson was sworn into for his second term as governor, his state Department of Human Services reported that an additional 1,200 Arkansans have lost coverage through Arkansas Works, the state’s Medicaid Expansion program.

More than 1,200 people were kicked off the state’s Medicaid program this month for failing to meet the program’s work requirement, bringing the total number who have lost coverage for noncompliance to more than 18,100, the state Department of Human Services reported on Tuesday.

The state phased in the requirement last year for enrollees in Arkansas Works age 30-49 and began phasing it in this month for those age 19-29.

Those who fail to meet the requirement for three months during a year are kicked off the program and barred from re-enrolling for the rest of the year.

Enrollees who lost coverage as a result of noncompliance last year, including the 1,232 who lost coverage Jan. 1, are eligible to re-enroll with a clean compliance record for 2019.

Read more coverage at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette >>>