Of the more than 1.2 million jobs in Arkansas, more than half (51%) pay less than $15 per hour and do not come with job-based healthcare coverage. Many of these workers are essential ☊ to our economy despite making the least amount of money and often forced to choose between seeing a doctor or going without pay. The tragic unfairness ☊ that unfolded during the pandemic—high rates of Covid-related infections and death among such essential workers—was a blaring signal ☊ that we need to secure healthcare access for Arkansans whose health we rely on every day yet who struggle ☊ to get basic needs fulfilled.

For healthcare advocates, this means standing up for everyday Arkansans ☊, building power among their voices and experiences ☊, and holding on to hospitals and services that weren’t there for many “of us as kids.” ☊ As a relatively poor state, it means recognizing that Arkansas was wise ☊ to establish Medicaid in 1965 and approve its expansion over the years to ensure that the most essential and vulnerable people ☊ in our state—people with disabilities, babies ☊ and young children ☊, moms and dads ☊, students ☊ and grandparents—are covered ☊ and have access to the prescriptions, doctors and medical services that we all need to survive and get ahead ☊.

From cancer ☊ to autoimmune disorders ☊, accidents involving four-wheelers ☊ or distracted drivers ☊, Medicaid saves lives and prevents medical debt and bankruptcy ☊. For the 41% of Arkansans that live in rural communities, Medicaid pays for the doctors and equipment that keep rural hospitals open ☊. Access to Medicaid is even proven to boost graduation rates ☊ for under-resourced communities.

Because Medicaid benefits hardworking Arkansans, advocates are committed to making it easier to access ☊ and maintain ☊ by increasing appointment ☊ and prescription ☊ allotments, expanding postpartum care for new mothers, and offering dental coverage. Rather than making it harder for Arkansas families to access healthcare, why wouldn’t we make it easier?

Medicaid works—investing in its success is an investment in Arkansas’ future ☊.