Arkansas ranks near the top overall due to strong fiscal sustainability metrics, low improper payment rates, and robust administrative oversight indicators. The state also performs well on early work requirement activity and MCO presence. Yet Arkansas’s overall score is constrained by Medicaid expansion, weak private coverage retention, poor provider supply, and weak redetermination outcomes.
Strengths
Early work requirement activity and MCO presence
Restrained Medicaid spending growth and low Medicaid budget exposure
Low improper payment rate and strong MFCU enforcement activity
Existing APCD infrastructure
Weaknesses
Medicaid expansion
Weak private-to-Medicaid coverage ratio
Weak redetermination performance
Low primary care provider supply and reduced NP independence
