LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas lawmakers have voted to keep the state’s Medicaid expansion another year, days after the program’s future appeared in limbo following a court decision blocking the state from enforcing a work requirement.
The majority-Republican House voted 75-18 on Tuesday for the budget for Medicaid and the expansion program, sending the legislation to GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The Senate-backed bill last week fell short of the 75 needed in the 100-member House to win final approval.
The vote comes nearly a week after a federal judge blocked Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky. Hutchinson has urged the federal government to appeal the decision and said he wanted lawmakers to maintain the expansion program, which covers 235,000 people.
