By Rob Moritz
Arkansas New Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas would benefit from health insurance reform that holds down costs and covers more people, but legislation before the U.S. House would balloon the state budget, Gov. Mike Beebe said today.

“We’ve got a problem with the health care system,” the governor told a caller to his monthly statewide radio call-in show on the Arkansas Radio Network. “I think we need some insurance reform.

“There’s a whole bunch of stuff wrong when these insurance costs keep going up and health care costs keep going up and we’ve got a lot of people who are uncovered.

“Now having said that, the best way to address the problem is not necessarily to add more costs onto our general revenue here in the state.”

Beebe said he is watching several health care reform bills in Congress and one that concerns him the most is a House bill that would add an estimated $205 million in Medicaid costs to the state budget by 2015.

The governor said he has made his concerns known to the state’s congressional delegation.

The House could vote as early as Saturday on the $1.2 trillion million measure, which would extend health coverage to millions of uninsured and put new restrictions on insurance companies.

Also during today’s call-in show, the governor told a caller he thought lawmakers should always look for the least expensive option while traveling.

The caller was upset that the state House this week rejected a proposed rule that would have require members to choose the cheapest form of travel when they take state-financed trips.

“It hacks me off,” the caller said. “It’s almost like stealing my money.”
Beebe told the caller he agreed.

“I agree with you. All of them … ought to be mindful of the taxpayers dollars,” he said.

The caller asked the governor why he didn’t speak for the proposal before the House voted and Beebe said he did not get involved in the internal rule making of the House or Senate.