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Rutledge: Federal Law Won't Allow Caps On Medicaid Plan

Leslie Rutledge attorney general
oversight.house.gov/

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge says federal law won't allow Arkansas to limit the number of people who are enrolled in the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion.

Rutledge told state Human Services Director Cindy Gillespie in an advisory opinion issued Monday that she didn't believe federal law would allow the state to put such limits on the program, which uses federal funds to purchase private insurance for the poor. Lawmakers earlier this year approved a plan to continue the program, which was created as an alternative to expanding Medicaid under the federal health law.

The state has asked the federal government for new limits on the program but not an enrollment cap. Gillespie had requested the advisory opinion from Rutledge last month.

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