Arkansans Against Big Government, led by a Hot Springs radio talk show host, plans to begin gathering signatures to place a referendum on the ballot asking voters whether the “private option” health plan should be implemented in Arkansas.
“The people of Arkansas clearly did not vote for this, and they must have the opportunity to be heard on the issue,” said Glenn Gallas in a news release Tuesday (April 23).
The General Assembly recently approved a measure permitting federal money to be spent on private health insurance for poor Arkansans. Opponents liken the plan to Obamacare in part because it is being created under a provision of the president’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“The reality is that disguising Medicaid expansion by calling it ‘private option’ does not change the fact that it is still federally funded and still allows hundreds of thousands of people to become dependent on a system that is already broke,” Gallas said.
