LITTLE ROCK-The chairmen of Arkansas' largest political parties agreed Tuesday that legislators came up with a good Medicaid expansion plan, even if they differed on how they got there.
Democratic Party Chairman Vince Insalaco told the Political Animals club that Republicans had a "Jesus moment" in extending benefits.
Meanwhile, Republican Party Chairman Doyle Webb said his party's lawmakers found it appropriate to use federal money to aid the poor if "a conservative spin" is part of the plan.
Legislators, using a handful of political machinations in concert with the governor, extended what is now called "Arkansas Works." Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, says the plan is good for Arkansas as long as it has certain limits-along with a requirement that some participants pay premiums. To get around a bloc of conservatives committed to killing the program, Hutchinson had to veto an orchestrated plan to eliminate the program.
Insalaco credited a form of divine inspiration.
"There's been this incredible Jesus moment that happened in the Republican Party," he said. "They read the New Testament and found out that 37 miracles are attributed to Jesus and 34 of them are about health care."
Webb said that since the governor has embraced the Medicaid plan formerly known as the "private option," he could back it-though he wouldn't say that all Republicans needed to be for it, particularly legislators.
"As long as the health care dollars are offered (by the federal government), our governor has viewed that in the best interest of the state," he said in comments after his joint appearance with Insalaco. "His position is that, we should take advantage of those dollars while they are available."
The issue has divided Republicans at the Statehouse, where the Arkansas Works plan would have needed a three-fourths vote to be approved by traditional means. Hutchinson's veto of a mock plan to eliminate the project served as a bypass.
"Those opposed made a commitment to people they represent," Webb said. "The majority of the majority chose to go in this direction.
"It is funded and it is taking advantage of a federal offering and putting a conservative spin on it.