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Asa Hutchinson on Health Care
Former Administrator of D.E.A.; former Republican Representative (AR-3)
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Federal government should never be sole healthcare provider
The federal government should never be the sole provider of healthcare to Americans. If that happens, quality of care will decline. We must instead return to the power of consumer choice. These are the virtues that improve quality and lower costs.
States must also be given the freedom and flexibility to innovate in order to meet the unique challenges at home. Solving the problem will require leadership that places public interest ahead of our current political divide.
Source: 2024 Presidential campaign website Asa2024.com
, May 2, 2023
I oppose any vaccine mandate; need greater public acceptance
In terms of the future and the vaccine, right now I oppose any vaccine mandate because there has to be a greater public acceptance of it, greater experience in terms of our use of it, and we don't know what is down the road. Maybe, maybe not.
But whatever decision is made, it should be done at the state and local level in terms of education, in terms of what we need.
Source: Fox News Sunday 2022 interview of Asa Hutchinson
, Jan 2, 2022
COVID: Getting vaccines out is public/private partnership
The private sector is very engaged. The private sector is doing it, both the independent pharmacies as well as the chain pharmacies. The federal government is giving directly to them. All we're doing as a state is telling them where it goes and
allocate it. The delivery is directly to the private sector and they're getting it out, but not as fast as we would like. And so it's a partnership.
Source: CBS Meet the Press on 2022 Arkansas Gubernatorial race
, Jan 3, 2021
Kept state "open for business" during pandemic
We have all kept our states "open for business" and delivered food and other goods Americans need during this pandemic. Like other states, we did have to close pieces of our economies temporarily. To meet this challenge, our states moved quickly to
cut red tape and allow private employers to pivot to new business models.As we move into the next phase of managing the pandemic and consider
President Trump's guidelines for "Opening Up America Again," we are applying our propensity for planning to reopen the segments of our economies that temporarily closed. Each of us has identified triggers for when regions of our states and sectors of
our economies should reopen, based on metrics tailored to our unique circumstances. We are sharing expertise and best practices on how to safely reopen restaurants, churches, gyms and other businesses while continuing to slow the spread of infection.
Source: WaPo OpEd by 5 governors for 2022 Arkansas governor race
, May 5, 2020
Kept state "open for business" during pandemic
We have all kept our states "open for business" and delivered food and other goods Americans need during this pandemic. Like other states, we did have to close pieces of our economies temporarily. To meet this challenge, our states moved quickly to
cut red tape and allow private employers to pivot to new business models.As we move into the next phase of managing the pandemic and consider
President Trump's guidelines for "Opening Up America Again," we are applying our propensity for planning to reopen the segments of our economies that temporarily closed. Each of us has identified triggers for when regions of our states and sectors of
our economies should reopen, based on metrics tailored to our unique circumstances. We are sharing expertise and best practices on how to safely reopen restaurants, churches, gyms and other businesses while continuing to slow the spread of infection.
Source: WaPo OpEd by 5 governors for 2020 Missouri governor race
, May 5, 2020
Work requirement for Medicaid
I expect approval from Washington before the legislative session ends on our request to implement a work requirement for the Arkansas Works program. If you are able-bodied and of working age--with no dependents--you should be working or in training.
The only long-lasting solution to lowering the cost of Medicaid is to help more people earn their way off.
Source: 2018 Arkansas State of the State address
, Feb 12, 2018
$5M for Mental Health Stabilization Centers
I ask you also to remember those who are challenged with mental illness. I've asked for $5 million to be set aside in the budget for Mental Health Stabilization Centers and crisis intervention training.
That will be a start in helping our law enforcement community and those who deal with crisis circumstances to identify mental illness, to identify the help that is needed and to provide that help.
Source: 2017 Arkansas State of the State address
, Jan 10, 2017
A lot of budget "fuzziness" if private option is not renewed
Gov. Mike Beebe spoke at the winter conference of the Arkansas Sheriffs' Association a day after Hutchinson spoke to the same group. Hutchinson told the sheriffs, when asked about the possibility of budget cuts if the private option is not renewed this
year, that he believes "the numbers are very, very loose." He told reporters later that "I think there's a lot of fuzziness on what may or may not happen" if the private option is not renewed.
Beebe told the sheriffs there is no "fuzziness" to his administration's estimate of $89 million in expected savings from the so-called private option, emphatically rejecting Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson's description of it by that
term. "It's not hype. It's not B.S. It's plain old arithmetic," he said.
The private option is the state's program that uses federal Medicaid money to provide private health insurance to low-income Arkansans. About 85,000 people have enrolled so far.
Source: Arkansas News on 2014 Arkansas gubernatorial race
, Jan 28, 2014
Page last updated: Jan 24, 2024; copyright 1999-2022 Jesse Gordon and OnTheIssues.org