News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Nearly a third of pregnant rural Arkansans rely on Medicaid, study shows

Published

1 month ago

May 15, 2025

arkansasadvocate.com – Antoinette Grajeda – 2025-05-15 18:46:00

by Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
May 15, 2025

Pregnant Arkansas women living in rural areas will face even greater challenges obtaining obstetric care if Congress approves proposed cuts in Medicaid, according to health policy experts who discussed a new report Thursday.

Arkansas as a whole has the 10th highest share of women of childbearing age covered by Medicaid in rural areas, according to a Georgetown University Center for Children and Families study presented during a webinar Thursday.

The report also highlighted 20 U.S. counties where approximately half of their women of childbearing age are covered by Medicaid. One of those counties is in Arkansas, according to the study. Eastern Arkansas’ Lee County has about 8,100 residents and a nearly 39% poverty rate, according to the U.S. Census.

Medicaid is a significant source of health coverage for women of childbearing age, especially for those living in small towns and rural communities, the report found. The study defines these communities as non-metropolitan counties with urban areas of fewer than 50,000 residents.

Bills to improve Arkansas maternal health, change ballot initiative process head to Sanders’ desk

“It’s absolutely critical for maternal and infant health that women have access to affordable, comprehensive healthcare before, during and after they get pregnant,” said Joan Alker, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families director and lead author of the report.

Women in rural areas face greater challenges to accessing care because of a shortage of providers, hospital closures and the loss of labor and delivery units and obstetrical capacity, Alker said.

Nationally, 23.3% of women of childbearing age (19 to 44 years old) in rural areas are covered by Medicaid, compared to 20.5% of women in metropolitan areas, according to the report. Louisiana and New Mexico have the highest share of Medicaid-covered women, with just over 40% each. Nearly 28% of women of childbearing age are covered by Medicaid in rural Arkansas.

For many Arkansas women, especially those living in rural areas with low-income families, Medicaid may be the only health insurance source to keep them healthy throughout pregnancy, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families Health Policy Director Camille Richoux said in an interview.

“For me, it’s a great thing that we have Medicaid ensuring that women throughout the state have coverage options,” Richoux said. “It also means that we have more at stake whenever there are threats to Medicaid…this report really makes that case of how any kind of threats or cuts around Medicaid could have the potential to be devastating to a lot of women in the state and especially in a state that has so many challenges in maternal health.”

Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation and the third-highest infant mortality rate, according to the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement.

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Access to Medicaid could change under proposed federal legislation. A U.S. House panel approved a plan Wednesday that would reduce federal spending on Medicaid by $625 billion over the next decade.

The proposal includes a provision for work requirements. Arkansas implemented a work-reporting requirement in 2018 that led to 18,000 people losing coverage, in part because enrollees were unaware or confused about how to report they were working. A federal judge later ruled the program was illegal. Arkansas officials submitted a request for a new work requirement earlier this year.

‘The first time didn’t work’: Georgia and Arkansas scale back Medicaid work requirements

Rural communities have a lot at stake with the congressional Medicaid debate, Alker said, because the loss of Medicaid revenue would place “additional pressure on a very strained system.” Nearly half of all births in rural areas are covered by Medicaid, and less access to obstetrical care leads to worse outcomes to moms and their babies, she said.

According to one study, 293 rural hospitals stopped providing obstetric care between 2011 and 2023. Another study found that more than 52% of rural hospitals did not provide obstetric care by 2022.

Arkansas ranks sixth in terms of states with the highest percentage of maternity care deserts, according to the March of Dimes, which defines maternity care deserts as areas with no birthing facility or obstetric clinician. Nearly 51% of Arkansas is a maternity care desert, according to the organization’s 2024 report.

“If we see more hospital closures and loss of labor and delivery units, all women living in rural areas are at risk of losing out on the care they need, regardless of who is their insurer, if that care is just not available,” Alker said. “So these communities will not be able to grow and thrive without a robust system to support women and families.”

Beyond reducing healthcare access for all rural community residents, not just those insured through Medicaid, Richoux noted hospital closures can hurt an entire community, especially when it’s the area’s largest employer.

“Not everybody can just leave…to move out of an area is an easy thing to say, a lot harder to do,” she said. “And people shouldn’t have to be forced to leave their small, rural town because their hospital is unnecessarily closed.”

The full Georgetown University report is available here.

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Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

The post Nearly a third of pregnant rural Arkansans rely on Medicaid, study shows appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

The article presents a factual discussion of the challenges faced by pregnant women in rural Arkansas, especially in relation to Medicaid coverage. It highlights concerns about proposed federal cuts to Medicaid and their potential negative impact on maternal and infant health, especially in rural areas. The language used suggests an advocacy for protecting Medicaid coverage for low-income women, with quotes from experts warning of the devastating consequences of such cuts. While the article is focused on health policy and presents the perspectives of health experts, it leans toward a more sympathetic view of Medicaid and rural healthcare issues, which is consistent with Center-Left positions on social welfare and healthcare access.

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Trump directs ICE to target 3 big Democratic cities for raids

Published

9 hours ago

June 16, 2025

Staff Editor

arkansasadvocate.com – Ariana Figueroa – 2025-06-16 15:52:00

by Ariana Figueroa, Arkansas Advocate
June 16, 2025

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced late Sunday that he was directing U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers to conduct immigration raids in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the nation’s three most populous cities that are all led by elected Democrats in heavily Democratic states.

The announcement escalates a week-long conflict in Los Angeles, where large protests started after immigration officials began arresting day laborers at Home Depot stores across the city. Trump directed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to LA amid the protests without California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s consent.

“I want ICE, Border Patrol, and our Great and Patriotic Law Enforcement Officers, to FOCUS on our crime ridden and deadly Inner Cities, and those places where Sanctuary Cities play such a big role,” Trump wrote on social media, referring to cities that don’t coordinate with federal immigration officials for civil enforcement. “You don’t hear about Sanctuary Cities in our Heartland!”

Trump’s Sunday social media post to target immigration enforcement in cities came after a June 12 post in which he acknowledged that his immigration crackdown was harming the tourism and agriculture industries. Republican-leaning states generally have fewer big cities and more rural areas.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” Trump wrote last week.

The president directed ICE to pause raids on farms, after speaking with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, according to the New York Times.

The Agriculture Department has estimated that roughly 40% of farm workers do not have legal authorization.

However, advocates for farmworkers, such as United Farm Workers, said that immigration officials have not paused on enforcement.

“If President Trump is actually in charge, he needs to prove it: stop the sweeps on hardworking Californians,” UFW said in a statement.

A June 10 immigration raid at a meat processing plant in Omaha, Nebraska, where roughly 80 workers were detained, set off several protests in the city.

Trump wrote in his social media post that it should be taken as a presidential directive.

“ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History,” he wrote.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to States Newsroom’s request about details on the president’s Sunday directive to ICE officers.

Noncitizen voting

Trump took aim at Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker, saying during an interview at the G7 Summit with world leaders in Canada on Monday that Chicago was “overrun with criminals.”

“They think they’re going to use them to vote,” Trump said of people without citizenship who live in cities run by Democrats.

The president, without evidence, claimed in his Sunday post that the “Core of the Democrat power center” of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York allowed people without citizenship to vote in federal elections, which is not true. The practice is illegal and, according to studies, exceedingly rare.

A federal judge last week blocked Trump’s executive order that would have required states to mandate voters in federal elections provide documents proving their citizenship.

Last week, Pritzker and the Democratic governors of Minnesota and New York testified before Congress for eight hours on their states’ policies to not coordinate with federal immigration officials.

House Republicans brought in the mayors of Boston, Chicago and Denver in March on the same issue.

Focus for protests

The president’s directive to ICE followed a weekend military parade to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary that also coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday and sparked anti-Trump protests.

Millions of people across the country held “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration, according to estimates from organizers. The protests often included rebukes of ICE’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

The protests in LA, which have led to a legal standoff between the administration and the state, have been over immigration raids.

Since returning to the White House, the Trump administration has given immigration officers expanded authority to rapidly deport immigrants.

In Trump’s second week in office, DHS reinstated a 2019 policy known as expedited removal, meaning that immigrants without legal authorization anywhere in the country who encounter federal enforcement must prove they have been in the U.S. continuously for more than two years.

If they cannot produce that proof, they will be subject to a fast-track deportation without appearing before an immigration judge for due process.

The post Trump directs ICE to target 3 big Democratic cities for raids appeared first on arkansasadvocate.com

Political Bias Rating: Left-Leaning

This article exhibits a left-leaning bias through its framing and choice of emphasis. While it presents quotes and actions from President Trump, it also highlights critical reactions from Democratic leaders, advocates, and protest movements, and frames Trump’s claims—such as noncitizen voting—as “without evidence” or “not true,” indicating a fact-checking stance common in left-leaning outlets. The use of emotionally charged descriptions (e.g., “sweeps on hardworking Californians,” “millions…held ‘No Kings’ protests”) and the emphasis on opposition voices and legal challenges further supports this assessment. The tone is generally critical of Trump’s immigration actions and policies, aligning more closely with progressive viewpoints.

News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Local Reverend says he worked with suspect in Minnesota lawmaker shootings decades ago

Published

14 hours ago

June 16, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – 40/29 News – 2025-06-16 10:17:50

SUMMARY: A Springdale pastor, Daniel Thueson, revealed he once worked with Vance Boelter—the suspect in the Minnesota lawmaker shootings—at a Gerber baby food plant in Fort Smith in the early 2000s. Thueson described Boelter as a devout, kind, and high-energy person who shared his Christian faith. He and other former coworkers were shocked by the news, saying the violent acts are completely out of character. Thueson believes national polarization may have influenced Boelter’s actions and called for unity and reflection. He expressed deep sorrow for the victims and urged Boelter to surrender peacefully to authorities.

Local Reverend says he worked with suspect in Minnesota lawmaker shootings decades ago

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News from the South - Arkansas News Feed

Born in Arkansas, heard everywhere | The stories of Black musicians

Published

17 hours ago

June 16, 2025

Staff Editor

www.youtube.com – THV11 – 2025-06-16 07:03:51

SUMMARY: DHV 11 is honoring Black Music Month by highlighting Arkansas’s ongoing legacy of Black musicians, from blues roots in the Delta and Little Rock’s West 9th Street to global stages today. Artists like Grammy-winning gospel singer Smokey Norful, international opera singer Kristen Lewis, and rapper Epiphany Morrow illustrate diverse paths grounded in Arkansas’s cultural and spiritual heritage. They emphasize the enduring influence of Black music as a source of strength, pride, and empowerment. The series continues to uncover rich history and contemporary celebrations, showing that Black music in Arkansas is a living tradition, deeply connected and evolving across genres and generations.

The legacy of Black music in Arkansas is not just history— it’s still being written. Black Music Month shines a light on the voices and venues rooted here at home.

https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/born-in-arkansas-heard-everywhere-stories-black-musicians/91-5ba09670-44da-4de6-9295-6f296855598a

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