U.S. Senate Candidate Eldridge Reaffirms Support For Private Option
LITTLE ROCK – Former prosecutor and U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge, who is running for the U.S. Senate, today reaffirmed his support for maintaining the Medicaid expansion in Arkansas. He also noted that his Republican opponent, Senator John Boozman, has said he has “no qualms” with voting to kick off all 250,000 Arkansans on the Medicaid-expansion program.
“The bipartisan Private Option is incredibly important to so many working families in this state, and it's irresponsible for Senator Boozman to continue to support repeal of this law without offering any alternative,” said Eldridge. “However, that does not mean I think the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is perfect. There are still problems with the law and our health care system that must be addressed. For example, we need increased tax credits for small businesses so that providing health care doesn’t mean eliminating jobs. As a senator, I will lead on important issues and work with both parties to find commonsense solutions to the problems faced by Arkansas families.”
There are currently over 250,000 Arkansans enrolled in the Private Option, which has led to Arkansas’s uninsured rate falling from 22.5 to 9.1 percent since 2013.
“Let’s be clear: if Senator Boozman had his way, we wouldn’t even be having this debate, and a quarter of a million working Arkansans would be without private health insurance they desperately need," said Eldridge. "Washington should focus on growing the economy, creating good jobs, rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and getting America moving again – not on pulling the rug out from underneath the 250,000 working Arkansans who rely on the Private Option. We don’t need name-calling; we need hard work and results.”