Advocates tout benefits of Medicaid coverage for Arkansas workers

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Ahead of the Labor Day holiday on Monday, advocacy groups in the state held a news conference at the state Capitol on Wednesday to highlight the importance of Medicaid for the state's workforce.

During the event, hosted by Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, the Arkansas Education Association and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, organizers spoke about how much working Arkansans depend on Medicaid.

"Many of us really don't know why we celebrate Labor Day. We just know that we're off of work, which we're excited about," said Keesa Smith-Brantley, executive director for Arkansas Advocates, during the news conference on Wednesday.

"The reality is that Labor Day was created to celebrate the country's workforce and the contributions that the workforce makes to the economy, and we thought that it was important for us to remember while we are celebrating the workforce, that we need a healthy workforce in order for our economy to continue to grow," she said.

Smith-Brantley said many Medicaid beneficiaries are working in jobs that do not provide insurance or "in a space where they don't make enough in order to have health insurance in other means, and so they rely on Medicaid."

"You hear a lot of stereotypes about the Medicaid program, and I think one of the biggest stereotypes you hear is this assumption that people are not working," she said. "But over half of the individuals on our Medicaid program are working, and they're working in critical areas."

In an issue brief citing information from a survey from Nov. 13, 2023, to Jan. 8, 2024, by Gallup and West Health, a group of nonprofits focused on health care and aging, Arkansas Advocates noted "an estimated 72 million people, about 1 in 3 adults, did not seek needed healthcare in the previous three months due to cost restraints."

"This barrier is especially burdensome for working Arkansans, where the median household income is nearly $20,000 less than the national average," Arkansas Advocates said in the brief.

Kimberly Bajedo, a substitute teacher and a Medicaid beneficiary, said having the coverage has enabled her to support her six children, three of whom have sickle cell disease.

"It empowers me to know that I don't have to make that hard choice sometimes, between 'do I put food on the table' or 'my son is hurting, he's having a really bad crisis, and I need to take him in,'" Bajedo said at the event.

April Reisma, president of the Arkansas Education Association and a special education teacher at Robinson Middle School in Little Rock, said the association was concerned about Medicaid in the workforce because she has seen how much the program helps her students, whom she called "our future workforce."

Reisma said more barriers to students on Medicaid were lifted as a result of a 2014 federal policy change that allowed reimbursement for all covered services provided by schools to children who are on Medicaid.

Previously, with some exceptions, schools were not eligible for Medicaid reimbursement for services that were provided for free to students not on Medicaid. One exception was for services provided as part of an individualized education plan for a student with a disability.

An October report by the Healthy Schools Campaign, a Chicago-based nonprofit, listed Arkansas as being among 25 states that have expanded their Medicaid reimbursement to schools as a result of the policy change.

Reisma said she has seen the benefits of the services for her students who have individualized education plans.

"I know about those services that they are able to receive," Reisma said. "We all know that there are students that do not have an IEP that also need these services. This program includes services that are clearly related to mental health, like nurses and guidance counselors, but also a wide array of services ranging from occupational therapy to audiology."

My Ly is a Report for America Corps member.

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