The “unnecessary and poorly timed delay” in Arkansas’ Medicaid reimbursement increases has created a “desperate situation” for assisted living providers, according to one provider group.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) suspended and delayed approval of the Medicaid reimbursement increases established by the Arkansas Department of Human Services and approved by state lawmakers and the former administration. Those increases were slated to take effect Jan. 1 for the state’s 55 assisted living communities approved for Medicaid.
The increases were based on the Arkansas Living Choices Assisted Living Waiver Rate Study Report that came out in August. The current temporary public health emergency Medicaid reimbursement rates were implemented in 2022, according to Phyllis Bell, executive director of the Arkansas Residential Assisted Living Association, a state partner of Argentum.
Providers were expecting a new rate of $96.76 per day. That compares with the old rate of $67 per day, which temporarily was increased during the COVID-19 public health emergency to $81.58 for urban providers and $85.67 for rural providers.
Bell said that those temporary rates don’t align with the cost of services provided in assisted living communities, as outlined in the report, and will expire soon after the unwinding of the public health emergency. Rates then will revert to a much lower permanent reimbursement rate.
The delay “has created a desperate situation for assisted living providers who care for elderly and disabled Arkansans who qualify for Medicaid Living Choices waiver services,” she said.
“It isn’t clear why the Sanders administration has placed a hold on the recommended rate, which was approved by the previous administration and reviewed by the appropriate legislative committees,” Bell added. “We are hopeful she will act promptly to ensure continued access and quality of life services for Akransas’ most vulnerable citizens.”
