NHeLP Comments: Arkansas Works 1115 Demonstration

Executive Summary

In comments to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, NHeLP Director of Health Policy Leonardo Cuello urges HHS to reject Arkansas’s proposed application for a Section 1115 demonstration waiver. Cuello notes that the “Arkansas Works Program” would, in part, undermine the state’s expansion of Medicaid by requiring onerous premiums, and greatly restrict non-emergency medical transportation for enrollees. Cuello, moreover, calls on HHS to ensure that state health officials do not present a “work referral” in such a manner that “confuses enrollees into thinking it is a conditions of eligibility and/or otherwise dissuades enrollment in Medicaid.”

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