The Private Option has been a huge success, providing Arkansans with affordable health coverage. The 2015 Legislative session starts next week, and lawmakers will decide whether or not to continue a program that has helped so many Arkansans get the health coverage they need. Since enrollment started in October 2014, over 220,000 Arkansans have been approved for Private Option coverage. And almost 32,000 children enrolled in ARKids First and private coverage as their caregivers enrolled.

These enrollment figures just skim the surface of the positive impact the Private Option has had. The benefits of this affordable coverage option can already be seen just a year after implementation.

• We cut the rate of uninsured adults in half, from 22.5 percent in 2013 to 12.4 percent midway through 2014 making Arkansas a national leader.
• In the first six months, Arkansas hospitals saw a 54.5 percent or $69.2 million reduction in financial losses from treating uninsured patients.
• The state is estimated to save $376 million by 2020, even after including the state’s share of costs for the Private Option.
• We’ve expanded treatment options for mental health conditions and substance use disorders, which is significant since about 12 percent of adults who qualify for coverage will have a substance use disorder and 10 percent will have a serious mental illness.

AACF hopes health coverage continues to be a priority for policymakers in 2015. Check out our fact sheet Arkansas’s Private Option Works for Families and Our Economy for more information about how the Private Option is helping Arkansas families and the economy.