Arkansas Lawmakers Ensure Kids Keep Coverage as Private Plans Leave the State

The legislative session in Arkansas ended last month with many accomplishments for kids’ health on the books.  We spend a lot of time talking about measures to improve access to ARKids First and promising new oral health accomplishments, including better availability of fluoridated water and preventive dental services.

But one measure that didn’t receive as much attention will also be critical for many Arkansas kids, ensuring that more than 400 children don’t experience a lapse in coverage.  Rep. Donna Hutchinson, working with the Arkansas Insurance Department, passed a bill, now Act 269, to require private plans to offer child-only plans through an open enrollment period each October, beginning this fall.

This was an important response to ensure correct implementation of the Affordable Care Act-offering policies regardless of pre-existing conditions. However, the effort was also a direct response to the sale and impending departure of Mercy Health Plans, the only insurance plan in Arkansas selling child-only plans.  This would have left 400 children in Arkansas with no health insurance option.

But Arkansas leaders were faced by another challenge: Mercy was set to leave the state in March, so what would happen to the 400 children between now and the October open enrollment period? The bill allows for these kids to enter the state high risk pool, already an option for adults, until October 2011.

Finally, the Insurance Department also worked to keep these policies as affordable as possible during the transition. Under the terms of an agreement brokered by Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford, Mercy will pay up to $3,500 for each former policy holders to enter the state’s high risk pool until they can enroll in private plans in the fall.

We thank Rep. Donna Hutchinson, Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford, Gov. Mike Beebe and the many other lawmakers who worked hard to ensure these children didn’t see a lapse in their health coverage.