Arkansas Community Organization holds Medicaid reform rally, calls for extension to 6-month renewal period

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — At the Arkansas Community Organization (ACO) rally on Thursday, Medicaid recipients voiced their struggles with a health insurance system they found lacking.

Many expressed disappointment with glitches in the Medicaid system, making navigating their benefits or simply retaining them a nightmare.

"I have had issues back in the past of trying to be renewed on my Medicaid," said Michele Perrian, a rallygoer. "They have glitches in the system. They messed my daughter up, because they said that she was foreign because her name is Selena. She's not foreign and I didn't put that there. So I had to go up there and let them know, 'who did this?' They said 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, it was a glitch in the system.' Really?"

The issues brought forth by those at the rally have been exacerbated by the end of Medicaid's continuous enrollment provision for the Covid-19 Public Health Emergency.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders' administration has given Arkansas Medicaid recipients six months to verify their eligibility and renew enrollment half the time allotted by the federal government and the shortest timeline out of all 50 states in the country.

"Give people a year, don't kick people off now. Let's get it right. Fix the glitches. People need the healthcare," said Neil Sealy, a Community Organization with the ACO.

Nearly 80,000 Arkansans have already been disenrolled by Arkansas' Medicaid agency, and the ACO estimates that about 400,000 will ultimately lose their benefits.

"We're emphasizing the need for a navigator program. Clearly, if these systems can't function well enough on their own, we need a human with a heart to go in and see what's happening to people so that we're not cutting coverage unnecessarily," said Al Allen, an ACO Community Organizer.

The ACO recommends that outreach efforts be made to current Medicaid enrollees so that they are aware they must reapply.