medicaid work requirement

Nearly 35K more Arkansans lose Medicaid coverage due to incomplete paperwork

BY: - June 8, 2023

Nearly 35,000 Arkansans were dropped from the state’s Medicaid program in May because they did not provide required information to determine if they remained eligible for coverage, the Arkansas Department of Human Services announced Thursday. May was the second month of disenrollments as DHS reviews the eligibility of about 420,000 Medicaid enrollees who had their […]

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Republicans in Congress have raised the prospect of using the debt limit to force Democrats to the negotiating table on spending cuts. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP plan would expand work requirements for food aid for older adults

BY: - April 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans could face higher barriers to food assistance under the U.S. House Republican plan to cut spending while temporarily lifting the debt limit, advocates say. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s Limit, Save, Grow Act proposes returning discretionary spending to fiscal 2022 levels in exchange for raising the nation’s borrowing […]

Valencia White, right, talks about her concerns about Medicaid during an event Friday in Little Rock.

Arkansas Medicaid recipients seek DHS response to feedback, more time to confirm eligibility

BY: - March 24, 2023

Medicaid recipients who are concerned about losing coverage soon did not let Friday’s pouring rain stop them from gathering in front of the Department of Human Services’ headquarters in downtown Little Rock. Three attendees carried umbrellas with the message “Don’t leave us waiting in the rain” painted on them. The small crowd chanted “What do […]

Bruno Showers, senior policy analyst for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, speaks against House Bill 1196 before the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee on Feb. 16, 2023. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)

Proposed work requirement for federal housing assistance advances in Arkansas Senate

BY: - February 16, 2023

The full Arkansas Senate next week will consider a proposed law that would require able-bodied adults to work or volunteer part-time to receive federal housing assistance. House Bill 1196 passed the Senate City, County and Local Affairs Committee with no dissent Thursday. Able-bodied adults between the ages 19 and 64 would have to work or […]

Sanders: Arkansas will seek federal OK for new Medicaid work requirement

BY: - February 15, 2023

This story was updated at 10:40 a.m. on Feb. 16, 2023. Arkansas is seeking a waiver from the federal government in order to require adult Medicaid recipients to work, volunteer, go to school or receive workforce training in order to receive certain health care coverage, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Human Services Secretary Kristi Putnam […]

The Arkansas Department of Human Services building on Main Street in downtown Little Rock. (Photo by John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)

Arkansas Human Services nominee called quick learner, “unflappable” leader

BY: - January 10, 2023

Kristi Putnam entered Kentucky state government in 2016 as an executive assistant in the state’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, but she was really “an ambassador without a portfolio,” Kentucky Youth Advocates executive director Terry Brooks said. “It was one of those [roles] where you knew she was brought in to sort of be […]