Feds Approve Arkansas’ Plan For Medicaid Expansion Via Private Option, Individuals With SMI Have Choice Between Traditional & New Plans

On September 27, 2013, the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had approved the state’s Medicaid waiver proposal for the Arkansas Health Care Independence Program. The program will use federal funds to enroll low-income uninsured, childless adults between the ages of 19 and 64—the Medicaid expansion population—in specialized Silver-level Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) similar to QHPs sold through Arkansas Health Connector, the state’s Health Insurance Marketplace. The QHP will double as a Medicaid alternative benefit plan (ABP). However, individuals in the expansion population . . .