“We are very pleased and fortunate to receive this grant,” Dr. Thompson said. “Lack of health insurance is an acute problem for several hundred thousand Arkansans, especially those between 19 and 64 years. We just completed a year-long study of the uninsured in our state, and for the first time we have a detailed picture of the health insurance status of our people.”

Dr. Thompson and a statewide consortium of stakeholders will use the findings of the recent study to create and implement cost-efficient programs for expanding health insurance coverage to all Arkansans.

According to Dr. Thompson, the new project will involve planning and recommending three strategies. One strategy would make available a limited-benefits Medicaid package to adults aged 19 to 64 years with incomes below the Federal Poverty Level.

The second strategy would expand health insurance coverage by implementing recent legislation to:

• Create community-based health insurance purchasing pools of small employers

• Allow communities to self insure

• Allow insurance carriers to offer less costly health plans without state-mandated benefits

In the third strategy, employers would partner with the state to establish a premium assistance program for low-income workers, to be funded largely by drawing upon currently untapped federal matching dollars.

Links on This Page

State Coverage Initiatives: http://www.statecoverage.net/
Grant Helps: http://www.uams.edu/today/080201/rural.htm
Arkansas Center for Health Improvement: http://www.achi.net/
College of Public Health: http://www.uams.edu/coph/

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