Ark. Code Ann. § 20-77-101 (2020)
Cost-sharing charges for medically indigent — Legislative intent
- It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Medicaid medical assistance program administered by the Department of Human Services is intended to be supplemental to other potential sources of payment which are or may be available to pay for the costs of medical care delivered to residents of this state. To ensure that the appropriated funds are available to meet the needs of those residents, it is hereby declared the public policy of the State of Arkansas that the program is the payor of last resort to supplement and not supplant other sources which are or may be available to any individual, except when federal requirements under Title V specify otherwise.
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The appropriate division of the department, in order to comply with Pub. L. No. 92-603, § 208, may, with respect to the medically indigent:
- Provide that an enrollment fee, premium, or similar charge may be imposed;
- Specify the amount of and the period of liability for the charges; and
- Define the state's policy regarding the effect on the recipient of nonpayment of required charges.
History. Acts 1974 (1st Ex. Sess.), No. 24, § 13; 1993, No. 249, § 1.
A.C.R.C. Notes. Title V, referred to in this section, is an apparent reference to Title V of the Social Security Act, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 501 et seq.
U.S. Code. Pub. L. No. 92-603, § 208, referred to in this section, is codified as 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396a and 1396a note.
Research References
Ark. L. Rev.
An Accident Waiting to Happen: Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services v. Ahlborn Exposes Inequities in Medical Benefits Legislation, 60 Ark. L. Rev. 533.
Case Notes
Eligibility.
Department of Human Services prevailed in its argument that the applicant's daughter sold the applicant a life estate in the daughter's home and spent thousands of dollars of the applicant's money to improve the home to artificially impoverish the applicant so that the applicant would be eligible for Medicaid. Groce v. Dir., 82 Ark. App. 447, 117 S.W.3d 618 (2003).
Public Policy and Trusts.
Trustee intended to modify the trust in order to qualify a beneficiary for public benefits; because impoverishing the beneficiary in order to qualify her would make the trust provisions void, the modified provisions would have been void on grounds of public policy, and the trial court's denial of the modification motion was that the purpose for modifying the trust would be defeated. In re Ruby G. Owen Trust, 2012 Ark. App. 381, 418 S.W.3d 421 (2012).
Trial court considered case law from other jurisdictions that permitted the modification the trustee requested in this case, in order to qualify a beneficiary for public benefits, but the trial court did not find that the modification was permissible under public policy and Arkansas law; the court was not left with a firm conviction that a mistake was committed. In re Ruby G. Owen Trust, 2012 Ark. App. 381, 418 S.W.3d 421 (2012).