Last week’s big Medicaid news in Arkansas has been making waves across the country.  In short, Arkansas received word from Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius that the state has additional flexibility for shaping new, affordable coverage options for low-income Arkansans.  This decision is a bit of a game-changer from a world in which we believed extending our traditional Medicaid coverage to uninsured adults was the only option.

This “whole new world” has left many of us with a renewed sense of optimism about covering (for the first time!) more uninsured parents and other adults.  By accepting federal tax dollars that were allotted to Arkansas to strengthen Medicaid, but using them to purchase private health plans in the new private health insurance “exchange” marketplace, we can still reach our goal of offering affordable, high-quality health coverage to all Arkansans.

We don’t know many details yet.  One of the most important issues we see is that, to offer Medicaid coverage through the exchange, Medicaid rules should still apply to the low-income adults who enroll.  Private insurance plans should supplement their private plan benefits to include coverage such as non-emergent transportation for low-income enrollees, as Medicaid does.  Cost-sharing rules for those earning less than 138% of the federal poverty level should still apply (also see our one-page reference on cost-sharing rules).  We are thankful to have been working on opportunities to ensure that Medicaid AND exchange coverage meets the needs of Arkansas families since the new coverage will likely use rules from both.

The new flexibility means some complex decisions must be considered in a short time frame in order for coverage to be available for all income ranges on January 1, 2014. Private insurers can begin submitting plans to the Exchange in less than a month. We’ll keep you up-to-date. Follow this blog to stay informed. In the meantime, find out how you can support efforts to extend affordable health coverage to more Arkansans here.