obsitnik.jpg

How about this? Arkansas Medicaid Director Andy Allison’s examination of the costs and benefits — a net gain of over $300 million to Arkansas over 7 years — of the Medicaid expansion is used as a template for the science in the Washington Post.

Advertisement

One more thought for the spluttering Republicans, whose current talking point is that Arkansas should refuse federal dollars because it might contribute to the federal deficit. You could blame us for the federal deficit only if you presume Medicaid is the only cost in the federal budget in which savings could be made and only if you think Arkansas should refuse to take more money than it pays in to the feds rather than help its own people.

It seems like a good time for the Larry Obsitnik photo above, a copy of which he gave me long ago — signed — for my use. Wonder how the sides in the current fight on Medicaid would have divided in 1957? Would those standing in the hospital door today have been standing in the schoolhouse door against evil federal intervention then, too? The billlboard slogan is timeless and as applicable in 2012 as it was in 1957 when the troops rolled in to uphold the promise of equal treatment for all.

Advertisement

And one more thought: The state has been excessively conservative in estimating a bump in revenue from hundreds of millions in direct federal Medicaid spending in Arkansas for health care providers and all their many contractors and related parties.

Imagine the shale math that the UA’s Kathy Deck could apply to this money if somebody only would hire her to evaluate it. What, you think about a six-fold multiplier would be about right? At least that much, I’d guess, given how that shale gas money is said to circulate time and time again, never apparently leaving Arkansas to line the pockets of gas barons, speculators, major leaseholders in other states and so on. What do you say Sen. Rapert? Under Deck shale math, wouldn’t this Medicaid money produce BILLIONS for Arkansas?

Advertisement

UPDATE: Deck has been there, done that. And, guess what, she indeed concluded in a 2010 study that Medicaid is a 6-1 economic driver in Arkansas. Sen. Rapert? If that shale study is gold, isn’t this one?

Arkansas Times: Your voice in the fight

Are you tired of watered-down news and biased reporting? The Arkansas Times has been fighting for truth and justice for 50 years. As an alternative newspaper in Little Rock, we are tough, determined, and unafraid to take on powerful forces. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, we are making a difference. But we can't do it without you. Join the 3,400 paid subscribers who support our great journalism and help us hire more writers. Sign up for a subscription today or make a donation of as little as $1 and help keep the Arkansas Times feisty for years to come.

Previous article The midweek line —- Oxford American UPDATE Next article Group urges Wi-Fi in city alert centers