Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

ARKids Provides Health Care For Youth

More than 28,000 Arkansas children now have access to medical care on a regular basis because of the innovative ARKids First Program.

The program started accepting applications one year ago September 1. In March of 1997, Gov. Mike Huckabee went to a Little Rock child care facility and, using a red crayon, signed the legislation that created this historic program.

Huckabee said, "I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished in the past year with ARKids First. We are setting national precedents with how Arkansas is working to guarantee that all children can see a doctor. The day I signed this bill I said it would be one of the most important things I could do as governor. One year later I believe that more than ever."

Thanks to the vision of the state's lawmakers, children's advocates and chief executive, ARKids First children's insurance program is not only a reality, but it has been providing much needed medical services to the children of families that frequently fall between the cracks.

In August of 1997, the federal Balanced Budget Act was passed that created the national Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The Arkansas version of the plan was put in place five months earlier. Arkansas is operating ARKids First on a Medicaid waiver. A waiver is needed when a state builds a new and innovative program that doesn't fit into traditional Medicaid categories.

On the morning of September 12, 1997, surrounded by hundreds of Arkansas school children, Governor Huckabee and Department of Human Services (DHS) officials Announcement of the opening of enrollment for the program last year on September 12 by the Governor and Department of Human Services (DHS) officials. DHS administers the program in Arkansas. The goal for year one was to get 25,000 uninsured children enrolled.

Lashunda Culp-Walls of Little Rock heard about the program and talked to her husband Steve about it.

"It gets hard, when you work 40 hours a week to not be able to afford medical coverage for my kids," Culp-Walls said. "When one of our two kids had an ear infection or a fever, we just had to say prayers and hope the kids didn't get really sick. It's very frustrating to be without medical coverage for the kids."

Culp-Walls said her employer's insurance premiums for family coverage were such a large percentage of her paycheck that they would consume most of her take-home pay. Her husband was not eligible for coverage benefits at his employer.

With a smile on her face and a noticeable sigh of relief, Culp-Walls says, "ARKids First has been wonderful. The staff at DHS have been so helpful, and the application process was much easier then we thought it would be. But most important, now my kids don't have to go without seeing a doctor when they get sick."

"These are just the kinds of families we had in mind when this program was development," Gov. Huckabee said, "Arkansans who are working hard and trying to do the best they can for their families."

DHS officials are celebrating as well.

After just 12 months of promoting the program, almost 30,000 children have been enrolled, far exceeding expectations.

In Clark County, 281 children are now covered by ARKids First insurance coverage who were previously uninsured, according to DHS records.

Interim DHS director Richard Weiss said, "We continue to believe that programs that keep children healthy save the state millions of dollars over the lifetime of an individual. ARKids is working," Richard Weiss, interim DHS director, said. "I'm very proud of the DHS employees who are making this a success."

For more information about the ARKids First insurance program, call 1-888-474-8275 or any county DHS office.