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Mental Care Concerns In Wake Of Arkansas Managed Care

Courtesy: Chuck Smith / Red River Radio News

ARK MANAGED CARE CONCERNS  As of last Friday --  Thousands of Arkansans with significant mental illness or developmental disabilities who are in residential care facilities will be subject to managed care.  The shift to managed care is the second phase of an initiative, approved by the Legislature in 2017, aimed at reducing costs. But  a group of residential care facilities went to court last week to get a judge to delay the transition, saying they don’t know what the state’s managed care provisions will pay for the more than 43,000 residents under their charge.  Plaintiff’s attorney Ashley Hudson argued the potential  this move poses for those under such care directives.

Credit Courtesy: KARK News
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Courtesy: KARK News
Attorneys for residential care group presents arguments before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza, Feb 27, 2019.

"I think it’s very easy to get down into numbers," explained Hudson. "And forget that we’re talking about the very real harm to people, to Medicaid beneficiaries, who are some of our most vulnerable residents in the state that the plaintiffs in this case are providing services for because no one else will."         

The court refused the request to delay managed care but said it will keep the case open for 6 months should problems arise, allowing for an amended complaint.

Chuck Smith brings more than 30 years' broadcast and media experience to Red River Radio. He began his career as a radio news reporter and transitioned to television journalism and newsmagazine production. Chuck studied mass communications at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and motion picture / television production at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has also taught writing for television at York Technical College in Rock Hill, South Carolina and video / film production at Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport.