Crawford: Even With Arkansas Plan, ObamaCare Is Unaffordable

Today, Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-1), issued the following statement regarding the so-called Arkansas Plan that would use federal Medicaid dollars to buy private insurance for low-income Arkansans:

“Arkansas state legislative leaders are doing their best to make lemonade out of lemons, and I applaud them for taking the initiative to cope with a bad situation. However, I feel the Arkansas Plan, which can only receive temporary approval at best, is destined to worsen the fiscal outlook for our state. As the reality of ObamaCare’s unsustainable and skewed funding formula becomes the subject of review as Congress grapples with the national debt crisis, states that sign up for ObamaCare, even under waivers, will find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.

“In my view, the current un-winnable situation in which state legislators find themselves will become significantly worse if they set up a government-funded private insurance program and are forced to pull it back in a few years after the entire provider system has plugged into it. Perhaps a better approach would be to petition Congress to delay ObamaCare for two or three years and ask the hard question – isn’t it the height of recklessness to add $1.3 trillion in new entitlement spending in the middle of a debt crisis?

“I encourage all state legislators who are concerned about our nation’s debt crisis to set aside the Arkansas Plan and call on Congress to delay the multi-trillion-dollar ObamaCare entitlement program.”

Congressman Rick Crawford represents Arkansas’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Crawford serves on the Agriculture Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. On the Agriculture Committee, Crawford is Chairman of the Livestock, Rural Development and Credit Subcommittee. Congressman Crawford and his wife Stacy live in Jonesboro with their two children. Click HERE to learn more about Congressman Crawford.

Today, Congressman Rick Crawford (AR-1), issued the following statement regarding the so-called Arkansas Plan that would use federal Medicaid dollars to buy private insurance for low-income Arkansans:

“Arkansas state legislative leaders are doing their best to make lemonade out of lemons, and I applaud them for taking the initiative to cope with a bad situation. However, I feel the Arkansas Plan, which can only receive temporary approval at best, is destined to worsen the fiscal outlook for our state. As the reality of ObamaCare’s unsustainable and skewed funding formula becomes the subject of review as Congress grapples with the national debt crisis, states that sign up for ObamaCare, even under waivers, will find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.