Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Arkansas Loses Legal Battle

The state Human Services Department has lost a legal challenge of its proposed managed-care program for children and adolescents with mental illnesses.

The department had wanted to implement the program last week, and had signed up about 40 psychiatrists. The state reimburses the physicians for treating patients who are eligible for Medicaid, a government health care program that pays for treatment of people with disabilities, the elderly and the poor.

The managed mental health care program, called Benefit Arkansas, would have set reimbursement fees that a physicians' group believed were too low. The medical group filed suit in federal court arguing that such low fees would result in fewer psychiatrists participating, therefore adolescents with mental illnesses would not have access to care.

A spokesman for the physicians said that Benefit Arkansas would reduce reimbursement fees for psychiatrists by an average of 25 percent.

After an emergency hearing, a federal judge agreed with the physicians and held the state in contempt. The judge also issued a temporary restraining order that will delay the imposition of the new, lower rates. The Human Services Department will continue to reimburse psychiatrists at the previous rates, a Medicaid official said.

The judge held the Human Services Department in contempt of court, because the agency failed to comply with a 1994 federal court order arising out of a similar case, in which physicians had sued the state and won a challenge of proposed reductions in Medicaid reimbursements.

The judge ruled that officials for Human Services should not have tried to lower reimbursement rates in the Benefit Arkansas program without first seeking permission to do so in federal court.

Inmates to Be Held in Texas

The Board of Correction and Community Punishment voted to transfer about 350 state prison inmates to Texas, because of severe overcrowding in Arkansas prison units. Prison officials estimate that Arkansas will have to pay Texas about $5 million next fiscal year for housing the inmates.

A major factor in the board's decision was that state prisons were so full they could no longer accept recently convicted criminals from county jails. Last week the number of state inmates being held in county jails reached an all-time record of 1,118. With many county jails filled to overflowing, sheriffs had no place to put people when they were arrested.

This is the second time Arkansas has had to transfer inmates to Texas. In 1996 about 500 Arkansas inmates were shipped to Texas. Arkansas opened two new prison units in 1998 and the inmates were transferred back here.

The state Correction Department has been working to respond to the overcrowding crisis. The North Central Unit in Calico Rock will add 50 temporary beds, bringing its total capacity to 550. The Varner Unit in May will open 156 beds in a new maximum security section called "Super Max." In 2002 an additional 200 beds are scheduled to open at the Wrightsville Unit, and 400 more beds for men and 200 more beds for women will open at units near Newport.

The prison population has grown in large part because of strict laws against violent and sexual offenders, as well as tough laws against the sale, possession and manufacture of illegal drugs and controlled substances.