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Committee rejects bill to expand assisted‑living Medicaid waiver after DHS cost estimate
Summary
SB577 would have removed a point‑in‑time cap and set a 1,550 unduplicated cap for an assisted‑living Medicaid waiver; DHS estimated a worst‑case Medicaid impact of about $9.4 million (federal $6.7M, state GR $2.7M). Industry groups and Alzheimer's Association supported the expansion; the committee voted and the measure failed.
Sponsor presented Senate Bill 577 to expand Arkansas' Medicaid assisted‑living waiver by eliminating a point‑in‑time cap and establishing a minimum unduplicated cap of 1,550 waiver slots. Industry witnesses said the current slot constraints harm rural access and that assisted living generally costs less than nursing‑home care.
Todd Hightower of HealthMark Services told the committee the sector faces a "big shortage of assisted living Medicaid slots" and that when the prior cap was reached,…
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