With most of us heeding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance on social distancing and so many needing help in this public health crisis, good news is at a premium these days. I’m thankful for the heroes on the front lines and the good neighbors stepping up to help those around them. All 50 states have taken different approaches to address this pandemic — some with more success than others. In my home state of Arkansas, I’m particularly thankful for the leadership of our governor, Asa Hutchinson, who was recently recognized by Dr. Anthony Fauci for his “extraordinary job” and commitment to residents of our state.
Though new cases continue to tick upward, Arkansas’s virus growth curve is less steep than most surrounding states, and the picture looks a lot less bleak than it looked just a few short weeks ago. Part of the reason is the work that the governor did well before COVID-19 was on the radar.
For the past several years, Hutchinson has been hard at work on pro-growth reforms that ensured the integrity of the state’s safety net programs.
The governor inherited a Medicaid mess, to put it lightly. Nearly 200,000 individuals on Medicaid were not having their eligibility checked at least once per year, as is required under federal law. The result? People from California to Michigan were enrolled in Arkansas’s bloated Medicaid program, and many enrollees were ineligible before they even received a single benefit. Altogether, more than 155,000 able-bodied adults were overdue for their annual Medicaid redetermination despite the fact that audits showed more than 12% of higher-cost Medicaid cases were from ineligible individuals. This squeezed out the truly needy and cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per month.
The Hutchinson administration went to work and cleaned up the state’s welfare rolls, checking things like death and wage records to make sure that people receiving benefits from Arkansas were truly eligible. The Medicaid program is now stronger than it was when nearly 40% of Arkansans were on Medicaid. And as more Arkansans need the program, it’s good that the governor and legislature saw fit to protect and strengthen the program for times like these.
Fast forward to 2020, and good leadership shines through when disaster strikes. We are continuing to see that in Arkansas. Hutchinson called off schools and ordered many of the measures implemented by other states with stricter requirements in place. Those measures are working well, and thousands of lives may have been saved.
Additionally, Hutchinson allocated $19 million to improve telemedicine access and signed an executive order expanding access to telehealth in Arkansas, including allowing patients to establish a professional relationship with their doctor over the phone as opposed to requiring an in-person visit. This means that thousands of Arkansans will no longer be forced to choose between ignoring a potentially serious medical issue or risk exposure to COVID-19.
Under Hutchinson’s administration, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock now offers free 24-hour testing for the coronavirus. Since there are more confirmed coronaviruses cases in the area around Little Rock than anywhere else in the state, this service is essential for diagnosing patients and preventing additional spread.
Hutchinson has made it possible for hotels and other short-term lodging to remain open for business by directing their services to people in certain occupations, such as healthcare workers who might otherwise go home and expose their own families to the virus. These options are critical for healthcare workers, especially those with at-risk family members whose conditions put them at increased risk of complications or death. Additionally, Hutchinson made $75 million in funding available for personal protective equipment that will go toward helping hospitals and healthcare workers fight the pandemic.
Because of Arkansas’s approach, the state now has a surplus of life-saving ventilators and recently sent some of the devices to hard-hit areas in Louisiana. Strong leadership in Arkansas is now benefiting neighboring states as well. Other states can and should look to Arkansas’s leadership in this time of crisis.
Until the moment COVID-19 put Arkansans’ lives and livelihoods at risk, the state’s economy was booming. With an unemployment rate of just 3.5% in February, Arkansas was experiencing an economic miracle. We’re facing several more weeks, possibly months, of this hard-fought struggle against the coronavirus, and it’s all hands on deck to protect our friends, families, and neighbors. At a time that seems so dark, I appreciate our governor giving us a silver lining that we are in good hands and that our state has a strong foundation upon which to build when, not if, recovery begins.
Nick Stehle is vice president of communications at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
