Beebe unlikely to seek health exchange grant
| Updated: 9/27/2011 3:16 pm |
Published: 9/27/2011 3:13 pm |
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A spokesman for Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe says he likely won't seek a $3.8 million grant to plan for a health insurance exchange after a group of Republican lawmakers said they opposed the state applying for the money.
The top Republican in the House and five other lawmakers asked Beebe in a letter Tuesday to not apply for the federal grant planning for the exchange under the federal health care law. Friday is the deadline to apply for the grant, and Beebe has said he won't seek the money without lawmaker support.
Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample called the letter a "strong indication" that there's not support for the grant among Republican lawmakers. A bill authorizing the setup of the exchange stalled in the majority-Democrat Legislature earlier this year.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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