By TAFI MUKUNYADZI, Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas House committee has advanced a proposal to change the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion program.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson addressed state lawmakers Monday afternoon in Little Rock at a special session to address several issues, including changes to Medicaid such as lowering the program's income eligibility and imposing a mandatory work requirement for some recipients.

More than 300,000 people are covered by Arkansas Works, the program that uses Medicaid money to buy private insurance for low-income residents. The proposal would cap the eligibility for the program to people with income that is at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty level — a change that would move 60,000 people off the program and save Arkansas at least $66 million over the next four years, according to state Department of Human Services.

Hutchinson wants that group to utilize the insurance market place instead, but opponents fear the change may lead to more uninsured residents. Democratic Rep. Frederick Love of the House committee that advanced the measure Monday believes the proposed changes are premature, and that there will be people who lose their insurance coverage.

"Until we have a definitive answer from D.C. on what they want to do, I think it's a little premature for us to say we're going to take action that we may not have to take," Love said. "When that time comes, if something happens in Washington, D.C., and we have to react, I think that would be a better time to take actions such as these."

Hutchinson also said a majority of people referred by Arkansas Works to the Department of Workforce Services aren't taking advantage of the state's services, illustrating a need for a mandatory work requirement for those who are able-bodied.

"The concept of requirements for participation in public assistance programs is not new or novel," Hutchinson said. "Under federal law, one of the core purposes of Medicaid is to help individuals achieve or attain independence."

The state will need federal approval to implement any of the proposed changes and lawmakers will also consider creating more legislative oversight of the Arkansas Insurance Marketplace.

The special session is expected to wrap up this week. Its agenda also includes "technical corrections" to medical marijuana legislation and a plan to shift about $105 million into the state's reserve fund.

The money to shore up the long-term reserve fund would be taken from the Arkansas Health Century Trust Fund, which was created as part of the tobacco settlement reached with national tobacco companies in 2000. The governor says the trust fund is not currently being used to fund any projects, is accruing interest and can help strengthen the state's bond rating.