State Department of Human Services spokeswoman Amy Webb said Friday the agency would end health-care coverage for 48,446 people, nearly 26,000 of them on Saturday and the rest at the end of August. Some were disqualified because their income levels were too high, but 46,979, or 97 percent, were slated for termination of coverage because they did not respond to a notice within 10 days.
“We were a little surprised by the number of people who have not responded,” Webb said. “We expected some of that, but I don’t think we expected this many case closures simply because people did not respond.”
The agency has been sending the notices to people whose income level appears to have changed from what they reported last year. The recipients have 10 days to verify their income level or face termination.
State and federal laws require annual eligibility checks for people enrolled in traditional Medicaid, programs like ARKids First and the Medicaid expansion program known as the private option.
The private option uses federal Medicaid money to subsidize private health insurance for Arkansans earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $16,105 for an individual and $32,913 for a family of four.
The Legislature voted earlier this year to end the private option after 2016, which is the last year that the federal government will fund it entirely without requiring Arkansas to pay a share of the cost. A legislative task force is studying possible alternatives to the program.
