LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Arkansas House has approved and sent to the state Senate a bill to freeze enrollment in the state’s hybrid Medicaid expansion while the future of the federal health overhaul that enabled the program remains unclear.
The House voted 55-32 Wednesday for the measure prohibiting the state from accepting new enrollees in the program that uses Medicaid funds to purchase private insurance for low-income residents. The legislation requires the state to file paperwork with federal officials asking for approval to implement the freeze that would take effect July 1.
More than 300,000 people are on the hybrid expansion, and supporters of the freeze have raised concerns about the cost of the program.
The hybrid program was created in 2013 as an alternative to expanding Medicaid under the federal health law.
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