In 2000, Arkansas received HRSA SPG funding to study the health insurance status of Arkansans and to develop options to expand coverage for the uninsured. The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI) was designated as the state's lead agency for the grant.
In 2001, ACHI conducted the first statewide Survey of Health Insurance Status and in 2005 conducted a second survey. The 2005 Arkansas Fact Book: A Profile of the Uninsured, published in September 2005, provided a comparative analysis between the two surveys and data on how many Arkansans lacked health insurance coverage.
ACHI's Arkansas Health Insurance Expansion Initiative Roundtable, which consists of 21 private-citizen members representing employers, consumers, and providers/health insurers was established in 2001 and continued over the course of the grant with the specific goal of stabilizing and expanding health insurance coverage in Arkansas by evaluating health care financing options. The Roundtable wrote a report based on the 2001 survey results and included recommendations for coverage expansion options, including support for local employer-based health insurance purchasing groups and expanded Medicaid eligibility for low-income pregnant women.
State Profiles
