Arkansas

Patrick Dunnagan of Raleigh, North Carolina, hasn’t been able to work for years because of kidney disease and chronic pain. When North Carolina on Dec. 1 became the 40th state to expand Medicaid, Dunnagan finally qualified for the state-federal health insurance program, which covers people with low incomes. “The financial security is huge,” he says.

Southern lawmakers rethink long-standing opposition to Medicaid expansion

While many Republican state lawmakers remain firmly against Medicaid expansion, some key leaders in holdout states are showing a willingness to reconsider.

On Tuesday, June 20, 2023 a federal judge blocked Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming care for minors. In this photo, opponents of a religious freedom bill gather at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, April 2, 2015.

NPR Health

Judge rules Arkansas ban on gender-affirming care for minors violates US Constitution

Daniel Breen

A federal judge has struck down Arkansas' 2021 ban on gender-affirming care for youth calling it unconstitutional and saying the state's experts were motivated by ideology, not science. Florida has a similar law on hold.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announces changes to the state Medicaid program called Arkansas Works, including the addition of a work requirement for certain beneficiaries, on March 6, 2017.

Health News Florida

In Arkansas, Thousands Of People Have Lost Medicaid Coverage Over New Work Rule

Jacqueline Froelich

The state now requires many of its Medicaid beneficiaries to work, go to school or volunteer in order to keep their health insurance. But more than 18,000 have come off the rolls.