Governor Asa Hutchinson was in Texarkana in July for one of his Community COVID Conversations
UAMS Chooses John Erck as Vice Chancellor of Institutional Advancement
By News Staff
July 26, 2021 | LITTLE ROCK — John Erck has been selected as the vice chancellor of Institutional Advancement at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), effective Aug. 23.
“I look forward to working with John,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “He has accomplished impressive things at the University of Arkansas, and I am confident his efforts at UAMS will help support our mission of achieving a better state of health for all Arkansans.”
Erck joins UAMS from the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, where he is the senior director of development and external relations, a position he has held since 2013. In that position, he led the college’s highly successful Campaign Arkansas development efforts.
Image by Beth Hall Photography
COVID-19 Cases Continue to Rise in Arkansas
Active Cases Data for Sevier County
Total Active Cases: 43
Active Cases Data for Howard County
Total Active Cases: 47
Active Cases Data for Little River County
Total Active Cases: 39
Active Cases Data for Polk County
Total Active Cases: 44
Active Cases Data for Pike County
Total Active Cases: 56
Heat Advisory Tuesday Afternoon and Early Evening for SW Arkansas
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM CDT
THIS EVENING...
* WHAT...Heat index values will range from 105 to 109 degrees.
* WHERE...Northern Louisiana, southern Arkansas, eastern Texas
and southeast Oklahoma.
* WHEN...Noon to 7 PM CDT on Tuesday.
* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat
illnesses to occur.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out
of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young
children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles
under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When
possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or
evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat
stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when
possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent
rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone
overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.
Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.De Queen Public Schools New Hires for the School Year
Fundraising Finish Closer for Marshals Museum in Fort Smith
By KYLE KELLAMS
The United States Marshals Museum received an anonymous $5 million dollar gift that moves the fundraising finish line much closer.
https://www.kuaf.com/post/fundraising-finish-closer-marshals-museum
COURTESY / THE UNITED STATES MARSHALS MUSEUM
Health Leader Warns New Coronavirus Variant Could be Resistant to Vaccine
by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)
Dr. Joe Thompson, former state surgeon general and CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, says we are nearing the point of declaring another pandemic emergency and his biggest worry is a new coronavirus variant resistant to current vaccines.
Appearing on this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics, Thompson was asked if it is time to declare a new COVID-19 emergency.
“We are approaching that point,” he said. “If we don’t get control of the spread of this Delta variant, one of my biggest fears is that with the spread we’re going to have a new variant that is either more infectious or escapes the control of our vaccines and then we will be back at square one as we were in the original pandemic.”
Arkansas to Receive $216 Million of $26 Billion Settlement Reached in Opioid Crisis
by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced Friday (July 23) a $26 billion agreement with pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors of opioids.
The agreement includes Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen – the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors – and Johnson & Johnson, which manufactures and markets opioids. The settlement requires significant industry changes that will help prevent an opioid crisis from happening again, she said. The agreement would resolve investigations and litigation over the companies’ roles in creating and fueling the opioid epidemic.
Drug overdoses, fueled by opioids, has been the second leading cause of accidental deaths in Arkansas in the last decade. In the last three years, opioid deaths have been declining, but they are still high on a per capita basis.
SWEPCO Customers Face Double-Digit Bill Increase in Arkansas
by Jeff Della Rosa (JDellaRosa@nwabj.com)
Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO), a utility of Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP), announced Friday (July 23) it will seek an $85 million request to increase customer rates. If approved, residential customers consuming 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month would see a more than $11 monthly bill increase.
SWEPCO has submitted the request to the Arkansas Public Service Commission. According to a news release, the company looks to recover environmental and resiliency costs related to providing customers with cleaner and more reliable energy.
The $85 million request also includes recent investments in transmission and distribution facilities and reflects costs to operate and maintain equipment that delivers power to customers. It also establishes new tariffs for electric vehicles and lighting.
AG Rutledge Proposes Eliminating State Income Tax by 2030 Through Constitutional Amendment
by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Republican candidate for Arkansas governor, announced Thursday (July 22) she would lead a constitutional amendment campaign to abolish the state income tax for individuals.
Calling it the “first phase of her economic initiative,” she said, “the Rutledge Plan is a grassroots effort to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to permanently eliminate Arkansas’ personal income tax.”
“For too long Arkansas politicians have talked about doing away with the state income tax, but it’s time to stop talking and start doing. I’m running for Governor to ‘Make Arkansas First,’ in job creation and economic development. I don’t just want to compete – I want to beat our neighboring states of Tennessee, Texas, and Florida,” she said in announcing the initiative.
Arkansas Governor Says Reconsideration Of Mask Ban In Schools Would Have To Come From Legislature
Gov. Asa Hutchinson says it will be up to the Arkansas General Assembly to decide whether to repeal a facemask ban in schools. It comes as parents are fearing for the safety of their children with the new academic year starting in a few weeks.
In response to the growing number of COVID-19 cases, one mother began a petition campaign on social media. “Tell the Republicans to Allow Schools to Protect Kids by Mandating Masks” was started last Tuesday and has already garnered more than 1,400 signatures.
Heat Advisory Monday for SW Arkansas
...HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM CDT
THIS EVENING...
* WHAT...For Monday, heat index values up to 108 degrees is
expected.
* WHERE...Area-wide.
* WHEN...For Monday, in effect from noon to 7 PM CDT.
* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat
illnesses to occur.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out
of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Young
children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles
under any circumstances.
Take extra precautions if you work or spend time outside. When
possible reschedule strenuous activities to early morning or
evening. Know the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat
stroke. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing when
possible. To reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent
rest breaks in shaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone
overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location.
Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.
Relinda Ruth, Director of UA Cossatot's Educational Resource Center, to Lead a Segment of a National Webinar
With the announcement of a chamber coffee and open house at the newly remodeled Educational Resource Center (ERC) on the UAC Nashville campus, Wednesday, August 4th, from 9:30 until 11 am, UA Cossatot continues to advance its role as Open Educational Resource (OER) leader in the state and within the OER world. Director of Educational Resources and OER Specialist, Relinda Ruth, will lead a segment of a national webinar entitled Open Educational Resources in Dual Enrollment. Ruth will lead the topic OER, Dual Enrollment and Student Success. Her segment can be viewed at https://www.sreb.org/post/making-case-student-success
Tanya Spilovoy, director of open policy, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) and Dr. Gerry Hanley, the executive director of MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) and SkillsCommons are also contributing to the webinar series
The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) invited Ruth to lead the webinar. SREB works with states to improve public education at every level, from early childhood through doctoral education and help policymakers make informed decisions by providing independent, accurate data and recommendations. The nonpartisan, nonprofit organization is headquartered in Atlanta and includes 16 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Arkansas members of the board include:
Asa Hutchinson, Governor of Arkansas, Little Rock, ex officio
Joyce Elliott, State Senator, Little Rock
Bill Gossage, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Governor, Little Rock
Lori Griffin, Principal, Ballman Elementary School, Fort Smith
Teresa Inman, District Instructional Technology Coordinator, Paris Public Schools
Weekly Update from State Representative DeAnn Vaught
This week, a subcommittee of Arkansas Legislative Council that provides oversight for Arkansas Game and Fish and Arkansas State Police heard from Arkansas State Police Director Col. Bill Bryant regarding recent successes and challenges facing state troopers.
His testimony alerted us to some startling statistics regarding an increase in aggressive driving and fatal accidents in our state.
In 2018, the Arkansas State Police Highway Patrol Division conducted 520 crash investigations involving fatal injuries. In 2019, the number was 505.
But in 2020, that number increased by 27% to 641 deaths. Col. Bryant says 14% of those crashes documented excessive speed of the vehicle as a contributing factor.
So far this year, the division says they have conducted investigations of accidents resulting in more than 330 deaths.
The number of citations related to acts of aggressive driving is also on the rise.
In 2019, there were 1,064 citations issues. In 2020, there were 2,030 citations issued.
So far this year, Arkansas State Police have issued more than 2,380 citations with some documented speeds as high as 160 miles per hour.
Aggressive driving incidents have included acts of violence documented by troopers assigned to the Arkansas State Police Highway Patrol Division and investigated by Special Agents of the department’s Criminal Investigation Division. Colonel Bryant testified the troopers and special agents confirm an explicit increase in incidents of gunfire involving motorists shooting at and into other vehicles traveling along Arkansas highways.
The Arkansas State Police Highway Patrol Division commanders are proactive with respect to patrol assignments to combat the incidents of aggressive driving and ensuring saturated patrols dedicated to speed enforcement are regularly occurring.
The division is dedicating the use of the department’s aircraft to monitor broad sections of U.S. and state highway traffic. The troopers operating these aircraft are in radio communication with ground patrols, providing them with speed and reckless driving observations, directing these highway patrol ground vehicles to specific locations where the violations are being observed.
Each highway patrol division troop commander has immediate access to deploy low profile patrol vehicles with minimal Arkansas State Police markings and different colors, unlike the white with blue stripe markings motorists are accustomed to seeing. These vehicles blend into traffic, allowing troopers a better perspective to identify speeding and dangerous driving and take immediate enforcement action.
While we continue to look for ways to support our law enforcement further, there are some ways every Arkansan can help keep our roads safer.
Arkansans are encouraged to let the troopers know they’re appreciated for what they’re doing to keep local highways safe. Likewise, citizens should speak up and let the troopers know where they are witnessing regular incidents of lawlessness on the highways. Citizens shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to the commanders at these local headquarters. Arkansas motorists traveling across the state are encouraged to call 9-1-1 and ask to be connected to the nearest state police headquarters to report incidents of dangerous driving they witness on U.S. and state highways.
A listing of the twelve Highway Patrol Division Troop Headquarters, including local telephone numbers and points of contact, can be found on our website www.arkansashouse.org.
Latest Aerial Photos at the Construction Site of the New Sevier County Medical Center
Photos provided by Monte Bartek of Bartek Recon
Monday's SW Arkansas COVID-19 Active Case Numbers and Vaccines
Active Cases Data for Sevier County
Total Active Cases: 41
Active Cases Data for Howard County
Total Active Cases: 49
Active Cases Data for Little River County
Total Active Cases: 44
Active Cases Data for Polk County
Total Active Cases: 40
Active Cases Data for Pike County
Total Active Cases: 51
AUDIO: Governor Hutchinson’s Weekly Address | Summer Reading List: History, Biography, and a Novel
LITTLE ROCK – Since the days I was taking out Hardy Boys mysteries from the Gravette School Library, I have always been in the middle of reading a book or two. The First Lady and I read to our children and our grandchildren. I encourage families to keep books at home to read aloud and to encourage children to read on their own. A primary education goal for my administration has been to raise the level of literacy in Arkansas, which is why in 2017 we launched the Reading Initiative for Student Excellence or R.I.S.E. The goal of R.I.S.E. is to create a culture of reading in our state.
Our reading initiative also focuses on the science of reading, which is phonics, and making sure every child reads at grade level, and if they fall behind, to help them catch up.
When it comes to books, biographies and books of history are my favorites, and today I’d like to mention the books that are on my short list to read this summer.
And so the first on my list is a book about Harry Truman. It is called Dewey Defeats Truman. In his book, the author, A.J. Baime, notes at least one similarity between the elections of 1948 and 2016. I will let you read and figure out the similarity.
The second book is included on the list since this is the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attack on the United States. It is called The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett Graff. It is a book I wanted to read as we should never forget the attack and the resiliency of Americans.
My list also includes books by a couple of Arkansans. The Long Shadow of Little Rock, Daisy Bates’s memoir, which is her account of the events that we know as the Little Rock Crisis. Daisy Bates’s story and courage should inspire us all.
The one book of fiction on my list is a novel titled A Noble Calling by Rhona Weaver, who lives in West Little Rock. Her husband is retired FBI agent Bill Temple.
The story is a character-driven mystery that Rhona set in Yellowstone National Park. The star of the story is a young man from Heber Springs who played football at the University of Arkansas before he became an FBI agent. Rhona has named him Win Tyler, and the books involves intrigue that goes all the way to Russia.
And then I recommend the book called The Man Who Ran Washington by Peter Baker. It is about the life of former Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury James Baker. If you like the inside story of the White House during the Reagan and Bush years, this is a must-read.
That’s enough reading to occupy me at least until Labor Day.
Transcript of Governor Asa Hutchinson’s ARHOME Address to the American Enterprise Institute
LITTLE ROCK – In a major address to the American Enterprise Institute today, Governor Asa Hutchinson explained Arkansas’s proposed Medicaid program, a Section 1115 Demonstration waiver called the Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me (ARHOME) program the state has presented for approval to the Biden administration.
“Let me emphasize that this is not just another Medicaid waiver that seeks to add coverage or deliver health care in a slightly different way,” Governor Hutchinson said in his speech. “It goes directly to the linkage between poverty and poor health outcomes and, in many instances, premature death.”
The transcript of his speech:
Thank You to the American Enterprise Institute.
It is good to be here with a friendly audience after six town hall meetings last week on COVID and vaccinations.
And let me express appreciation to Joe Antos of AEI and Stuart Butler at Brookings for planning and leading this event.
Joe and Stuart have seen it all in terms of health care debate and policy.
They have been engaged since the late ’70s when HHS had a different name, HEW. They have seen the intraparty feud between President Carter and Senator Ted Kennedy on maternal health insurance;
They watched as HillaryCare ran into a couple named Harry and Louise ... and a skeptical public and Senate.
They saw health care policy dramatically change with the Affordable Care Act under President Obama;
And now the debate continues as the Biden Administration weighs the conflict between assuring access to health care and the rapidly escalating costs that drive inflation and the federal budget deficit.
As they say in the Farmers Insurance commercial, Joe and Stuart “know a thing or two because they have seen a thing or two.” And there is still more to come.
The future of health care is what brings me here today.
But first, let me spend a little more time with the perspective of history.
In April of 1977, when President Carter sent his health care legislation to the Congress, the U.S. spent $173 billion on health care, about 8 percent of our Gross Domestic Product.
Today, we spend $4 trillion on health care, nearly 18 percent of our GDP.
This increased investment raises the question – are we getting our money’s worth?
History also reminds us of the importance of employer-based health insurance coverage.
At the end of World War II, employers began to offer health insurance coverage on a large scale to recruit workers when they could not offer higher wages. The decision during the Eisenhower Administration to keep employer contributions for health insurance tax deductible was a key to keeping more Americans covered by health insurance.
Today, employer-sponsored insurance is the largest source of health care for Americans. In my view, this is important, and the federal government should never be the sole provider of health care to Americans. If that happens, quality of care will decline.
Besides employer-sponsored health care, another source of health care for Americans is Medicare. The 65 million senior citizens and individuals with disabilities reliant on Medicare should not be forgotten as we look at the future. And specifically, we need to address the financial instability of the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund projected in the coming years. In fact, the reality of pending insolvency should be of the highest concern because it is projected to be insolvent within the next five years. While focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic is our top health concern, we must also be prepared to address the financial uncertainty of Medicare for our senior citizens.
Our family members who depend upon Medicare are counting on leaders to set aside their political differences to build the needed coalitions and working groups to solve the Trust Fund shortfall.
As the preacher once said in terms of decisions of this life: “There is a payday, someday.” That message applies to Medicare, if we don’t solve its current financial shortfall.
The last area of debate is probably the most important. And that is the principles we should follow in health care policy.
There are some in Congress who want to federalize our entire health-insurance system under a grandiose plan controlled by a left-leaning bureaucracy. Yes, their voices may be loud, but they must ultimately fail because the majority of Americans fundamentally know there is a limit as to how much the federal government can take from the pockets of workers, employers, and consumers. The other side of the debate is what I favor. We must return to the principles of true market competition, individual liberty and responsibility, and the power of consumer choice. These are the virtues that improve quality and lower costs. Solving the problem will require leadership to put the public interest ahead of our current political divide.
Now, let me focus on the reason for my presentation today.
Arkansas has submitted a new Section 1115 Demonstration waiver named the Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me program. We are branding it the ARHOME program. Let me emphasize that this is not just another Medicaid waiver that seeks to add coverage or deliver health care in a slightly different way. It goes directly to the linkage between poverty and poor health outcomes and, in many instances, premature death.
Some background is important as we look at this waiver application.
Prior to 2013, Arkansas severely limited Medicaid coverage for able-bodied adults. In fact, it was the lowest cutoff for Medicaid eligibility in the nation. In 2013, a parent with a dependent child with income above 17 percent FPL (federal poverty level) was not eligible for Medicaid. In Arkansas, that equates to an annual income of about $3,000 for a household of two.
An able-bodied adult less than 65 years of age without a dependent child had no pathway to Medicaid eligibility.
But the good news is that in 2013, Arkansas made the decision to expand Medicaid coverage to able bodied adults who make less than 138 percent of FPL. This decision increased health care coverage and led to a 12.3 percent drop in the state’s uninsured rate – from 22.5 percent in 2013 to 10.2 percent in 2016 – the second-largest decline in the nation.
When I became governor in 2015, there was a debate, but Arkansas continued with the expanded coverage.
That is the good news, but as Paul Harvey would say, “Now for the rest of the story.”
Despite the gains in health-insurance coverage, Arkansas continues to struggle to improve its rankings in improved health outcomes.
According to the most recently released America’s Health Ranking Annual Report, Arkansas ranks 48th overall among the states in health outcomes. While improvements in several areas have been made, Arkansas has not kept pace with other states. Here is the central point: Coverage itself is not enough to achieve the improvements in health care status that the people of Arkansas expect.
We want a new approach. We want more for the money. We are asking our health plans to do more; our hospitals to do more; and our enrollees to do more.
In addition to providing health care insurance, ARHOME will focus on maternal health, mental health and addiction services, and improved delivery of health care in a rural state.
For example, we intend to concentrate on the health needs of women with high-risk pregnancies, young adults who still suffer from childhood trauma, and people with mental illness – too many of them remain in the shadows and on the margins because of fear, discrimination, or the stigma of their illness.
We cannot just wait for them to come through the door of the hospital or doctor’s offices – we must go out to them and meet them where they are. (Experience with vaccinations – the rural areas have the lowest vaccination rates.)
ARHOME creates three new types of community bridge organizations that we call Life360 HOMES – one to serve women with high-risk pregnancies; one with a particular emphasis on serving people with behavioral health needs; one to serve young adults most at risk of long-term poverty, and the ex-offender population and foster children who age out.
Each of these Life360 Homes will be anchored by community hospitals.
Arkansas is fortunate to have many excellent medical facilities. Many of these are faith-based. Many are small community hospitals that are struggling to provide the medical care needed in the community and to attract medical providers.
ARHOME is a challenge and an invitation to our community hospitals to increase their services. Their doors are open, we invite them to open them even wider. They are mission-driven; and we ask them to expand their mission.
But we are not asking them to expand their mission on their own. ARHOME proposes to pay hospitals to recruit and train coaches or peer specialists, or to partner with other community organizations to engage individuals one-on-one.
Many in rural areas have no access to behavioral health services because of a lack of licensed professionals.
ARHOME will help expand the pool of qualified mental health professionals and fill the gaps for better health outcomes in rural America.
ARHOME will also engage individuals to improve job skills and to be ready for work. While this waiver will not include a strict work requirement, we can incentivize education, work, and community service.
Work and employment are shared values for our nation. And they are keys to ultimately improved health outcomes and to escape poverty.
For example, in a March 2016 paper from the Centers on Budget Policy Priorities, the authors state that “adults in poverty are significantly better off if they get a job, work more hours, or receive a wage hike.”
The dignity of work is a shared core American value as expressed by the Center for American Progress: “Work itself is fundamental to how human beings realize their destiny in this world.”
The Center goes on to say: “Work, whether a paid job or unpaid work in the home, as a caregiver, or in a volunteer capacity is fundamental to human nature and its expression. This connection between work and human dignity lies at the core of progressive values.”
More recently, The American Enterprise Institute in its April 2020 paper, “Health and Poverty, The Case for Work,” expresses a similar perspective: “ … work is essential to health and well-being, especially for prime-age people who find themselves poor. By ignoring the importance of employment, government policies do a disservice to the people they purport to serve.”
We see that policy groups at both ends of the political spectrum agree that work is not just an American value, but it is a human need and purpose.
Everyone also agrees that there can be a disincentive to work if the increase in income results in a reduction in benefits, the so-called Medicaid “benefit cliff.”
One of the purposes of ARHOME is to offer solutions to this benefit cliff. We don’t want to incentivize anyone not to work or move up the income ladder.
By using premiums, copayments, and incentives to make Medicaid more closely resemble the private insurance market, ARHOME will create a bridge from public insurance coverage, over the “benefit cliff,” to private insurance coverage.
Individuals who begin their coverage in Medicaid and increase their income above the Medicaid eligibility limit will be able to stay with the same plan, with the same benefits, and the same provider network. Individuals won’t lose their doctor because their source of financial assistance changed.
That is what premium assistance makes possible.
ARHOME is also a challenge to the health insurance plans to not only do more of what they do, but to be more.
The nature of a health insurance company is to provide access to care and protect against unforeseen unpredictable financial costs.
ARHOME challenges the health plans to provide incentives to encourage members to do what is in their own best health and economic interest.
With this new mandate, the health plans will have a menu of incentive options for their members that will encourage healthy behavior, increase their employment, education, and training so they can lift themselves up to improved health and out of poverty.
There are two questions that might be raised to this initiative and waiver application.
First, is it consistent with the purposes of Medicaid? The answer is a resounding yes.
Since its beginning, Medicaid has been described as an antipoverty program. But at its origins, it served populations that were outside the workforce – the elderly, people with disabilities, children, and low-income mothers whose eligibility was tied to the former Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.
In other words, Medicaid was reserved for different groups of individuals who, at the time, likely could not acquire health-insurance coverage on their own because they were not employed or were not considered to be employable.
The original Medicaid program made no reference to the newly eligible adult population that the Affordable Care Act created because this group of people, who are employable, was excluded by definition. In fact, the ACA should be used as a means of helping low-income workers improve their health, and increase their skills and their work opportunities.
So yes, the waiver is consistent with the purpose of Medicaid – a safety net and to help people move out of poverty.
The second question that might be asked is whether this waiver advances conservative principles?
Again, it is conservative to let the states innovate and to recognize the unique challenges of each area of our great country.
Because Medicaid is a grant to a state, each state participates in determining the purposes and objectives for its use.
States must not be reduced to mere agents of the federal government and must be allowed to exercise a fair and real share in decision making.
And it is conservative to use the private sector to do what government does not do well: to coordinate care, be accountable for outcomes, and incentivize lifestyles that lead to improved health.
And finally, it is conservative to use federal dollars in the most efficient way possible with oversight and accountability.
Under ARHOME, there will be quarterly program monitoring by a joint legislative-executive oversight panel.
The health care plan that we seek to build in Arkansas is both conservative and compassionate; it is both conservative and practical; and it is both conservative and based upon common sense.
It is my hope that the Biden Administration will approve this innovative approach to health care, and that conservatives will see it as a practical means to take an expansive federal program and overlay it with the efficiency of the private sector. That it will be understood as a plan to restructure a federal program in a way that provides flexibility to the states and reinforces the historic human values of work and responsibility.
When we look at the future, we must fight to keep America Strong and Free. It is not easy, but I remember the sign in the Oval Office when Ronald Reagan was president. It said, “It can be done.”
So when we ask if we can keep America Strong and Free, the answer is: “It can be done.”
Attorney General Alert: Don’t Fall for the Family Emergency Scam
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2021
Contact: Amanda Priest
Amanda Priest, (501) 414-2223
Amanda.Priest@ArkansasAG.gov
Attorney General Alert: Don’t Fall for the Family Emergency Scam
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Leslie Rutledge is warning Arkansans about scam callers who will pull at your heartstrings and attempt to steal your money. Potential targets will receive a panicked phone call from a person claiming to be a relative, oftentimes a grandchild who is in jail or the hospital, who needs money right away. The con artists will ask for money to be wired to them immediately and even pose as an attorney to threaten callers. With wire transfers being similar to cash, the money cannot be retrieved.
“You should never wire money to someone claiming to be a family member in jail unless you have verified that information with another close family member,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “This ‘family emergency’ scam is a recycled, common scam that is used to scare Arkansans into turning over their hard-earned money.”
Attorney General Rutledge recommends the following strategies to avoid falling victim to the “family emergency” scheme:
Resist pressure to act quickly.
Never give or wire money based on any unsolicited phone call.
Verify the family member’s location by directly calling another family member, the grandchild or the hospital or jail.
Do not send money to an unknown account or entity.
Ask the caller for his or her name, and if they cannot provide it, hang up immediately.
Have a plan in place when family members are traveling to easily identify whether a need is genuine.
For more information and tips on how to avoid a scam, call the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office at (800) 482-8982 or visit ArkansasAG.gov.
Polk County Offering Become A Master Gardener Training Course
All classes, except the September 23rd class, can be attended via zoom at UA Cossatot Adams Bldg. in De Queen. The first class on September 23 should be attended in person at Polk County Extension Service in Mena.
If you plan on attending via Zoom in De Queen, please contact Sevier County Extension Service at (870) 584-3013 or email Rex Herring at rherring@uada.edu to register by August 27.
If you plan on attending the classes in person in Mena, please contact Polk County Extension Service at (479) 394-6018 to register by August 27.