Following up on the earlier story about kicking 96,000 people off of Medicaid; Arkansas state Representative Nate Bell (R) introduced an amendment to the appropriations bill (the bill did not pass) aimed specifically at discouraging enrollment.
“We’re trying to create a barrier to enrollment,” Bell told the Arkansas Times about an amendment he introduced to a bill that would have extended funding for the state’s Medicaid expansion. “[W]ithout active marketing, you probably get declining enrollment.”
I’m going to repeat it again; those who have enrolled aren’t costing the state a single penny. The federal government currently covers 100 percent of the cost.
Bell and his cohorts want less people to be covered for purely ideological and political reasons. This isn’t policy. It’s a fart joke worthy of kindergarten. In his next amendment Bell will ask the legislature to pull his finger.