Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

ARKids First Program Approved

from State Sen. Mike Ross

Arkansas is ready to begin an ambitious children's health care program called ARKids First, which was approved by the legislature in the 1997 session.

The federal government has granted the state permission to begin the program, which will be funded with a combination of state and federal revenues. The state appropriated about $11 million and the federal government will provide an additional $33 million.

State officials estimate that more than 50,000 children, perhaps as many as 80,000 will be eligible. ARKids First will provide medical care for children in families in which the parents work and earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid. However, they don't earn enough to afford adequate health insurance.

Families will be eligible if their yearly income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For example, a family of four with a yearly income of $31,200 would qualify.

Primary care physicians will be assigned to each child to make sure he or she is properly immunized and gets preventive care. State officials hope that ARKids First will actually lower health care costs by providing treatment to children before they are so seriously ill that they have to go to an emergency room or be admitted to a hospital.

If sick children under the program need prescription drugs, there will be a $5 co-payment to be paid by their families. For some office visits to a physician there will be a $10 flat fee. For hospital visits, the family will have to pay only for 20 percent of the first day's charges. However, no child will be denied treatment because his or her family cannot afford to pay their share of the costs.

The state has begun a publicity campaign to inform Arkansas citizens of the program and to let people know how and where they can apply. It is expected that the first batch of applications will be accepted in September.

The immediate and long-term benefits of ARKids First can be tremendous, and if the program is successful it could turn out to be one of the most signifiant pieces of legislation adopted in the 1997 session.

A beneficial side effect of the program is that it will help make welfare reform a success. Some parents in families on welfare are reluctant to enter the job market because they don't want to lose Medicaid benefits it they find work. ARKids First assures those parents that their children will be covered if they leave welfare to find work, even if only for a relatively low-paying job.

First Nature Center

The Game and Fish Commission has chosen Pine Bluff as the site of its first nature center.

The agency plans to build four nature centers with revenues from the one-eight cent sales tax approved by voters in the November election. They will be in Jonesboro, Fort Smith and Little Rock.

The commission will build the centers one at a time, as revenues from the tax come in. The centers will have a meeting space, exhibitions, nature trails, educational programs, fishing docks and offices for Game and Fish employees.

Game and Fish receives 45 percent of the revenues from the eighth- cent tax. State Parks and Tourism Department also receives 45 percent. State Heritage Department receives nine percent and Keep Arkansas Beautiful receives one percent.