More than 50 Arkansas Organizations Urge CMS to Approve Two-Year ARHOME Extension
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2026
“Giving Arkansas the time for careful, responsible deliberation is the best way to protect the more than 200,000 patients who depend on this coverage.” – Naveen Patil, MD, AMS President
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Medical Society and more than 50 healthcare organizations from across the state are urging Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, to approve the Arkansas Department of Human Services’ (DHS) request for a two-year extension of the Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me (ARHOME) Section 1115 demonstration waiver. In a letter sent Wednesday, the coalition of physicians, clinics, hospitals, pharmacists, nurses, community health centers and other healthcare professionals and organizations serving patients across Arkansas asked CMS to grant the state the time requested for the transition.
ARHOME currently serves more than 200,000 Arkansans. As DHS explained in its August 5 request, changes in federal law and applicable budget-neutrality requirements mean the program cannot continue in its current form, and Arkansas will need to develop a new Medicaid delivery system. DHS requested the two-year extension to provide sufficient time to wind down the current program while designing and implementing its successor, a request the coalition calls “reasonable and prudent.”
“A transition involving more than 200,000 beneficiaries and the organizations that provide their care requires careful planning, clear communication and coordination,” said Naveen Patil, MD, president of the Arkansas Medical Society. “As physicians, our first responsibility is to our patients.”
“The broad spectrum of organizations signing this letter care for patients in every corner of Arkansas, and they signed for one reason: an orderly, deliberate transition is best for patients,” said Carl Vogelpohl, executive director of the Arkansas Medical Society. “We urge CMS to grant the state the time it has requested.”
“This is about getting it right,” said Samuel Bledsoe, MD, president-elect of the Arkansas Medical Society. “Designing a new Medicaid delivery system for Arkansas will take close coordination among the state, CMS, the General Assembly and the people who deliver care every day. Arkansas’s medical community stands ready to do our part, and a two-year extension gives everyone the time to do that work well.”
Click here for a link to the letter.
About the Arkansas Medical Society: Founded in 1875, the Arkansas Medical Society is the state’s largest physician organization, representing physicians of all specialties across Arkansas. AMS advocates for physicians and their patients to improve the health of all Arkansans. Learn more at ARKMED.org.
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