Health options by Jacob Brower

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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2011

The

Daily Citizen TheDailyCitizen.com

Serving Searcy and White County, Ark., since 1854

WILDCATS LAND 2 ON ALL-STATE SQUAD LOCAL STUDENTS TO SEE IMPROVED RECESS Harding Academy has a tight-knit team, and the Wildcats’ all-state honorees prove it. — PAGE 1B

Southwest Middle School students are eagerly awaiting the installation of new playground equipment. — PAGE 3A

State mulls health options Searcy lawmaker: ‘The partnership is worth investigating’ BY MARISA LYTLE

Health care

mlytle@thedailycitizen.com

Since an announcement by Gov. Mike Beebe on Dec. 22 concerning an insurance exchange partnership between the state and federal government, state leaders have been divided on what the next step should be. The Affordable Care Act passed by Congress last year is awaiting a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine whether or not it is constitutional, particularly with regard to the act’s mandate for citizens to purchase health insurance. Under this act, Arkansas is required to participate in a health-insurance exchange. “The health care reform is the law of the land right now,”

■ Gov. Mike Beebe supports a health insurance partnership between the state and federal governments. ■ State Rep. Mark Biviano, R-Searcy, advises a delay in proceeding with the partnership until U.S. Supreme Court has made a decision on the Affordable Care Act.

said Matt DeCample, public information officer for the governor’s office. “We were given the choice between setting up and operating our own exchange or deferring to the federal government to do that for us. We had hoped to have more state control over the exchange.

Beebe

Biviano

However, many members in the state House of Representatives fought strongly against a bill that would have allowed that, and they voted not to fund the Arkansas Insurance Department. It would have been disastrous to lose our Insurance Department, so, instead, the governor gave his word he wouldn’t overrun the legisla-

ture’s wishes, even though he had the power to do so.” As a result, the insurance exchange is supposed to be set up by the federal government. DeCample said the state has missed all opportunities to create a state-run exchange. In response, the governor has chosen to support a partnership plan raised as an option by Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford earlier this month. “Because we have lost the opportunity to have a state-run exchange, our goal now is to have as much input in the exchange as possible,” DeCample said. “The proposed partnership would allow us to do that. It would allow us to have more Please see HEALTH | 2A

LIBRARY OFFERS FUN WAYS TO LEARN

Liberty Bowl ■ Who: 2011 SHS Homecoming Queen Amber Breaux. ■ What: Has been chosen to participate in pre-game and halftime Liberty Bowl festivities. ■ When: Dec. 31, with kick-off at 2:30 CST on ABC. ■ Where: Memphis, Tenn.

Local to take part in Liberty Bowl SHS Homecoming Queen joins queens from across the nation BY MARISA LYTLE mlytle@thedailycitizen.com

As White County football fans watch the Autozone Liberty Bowl Classic on Saturday, they may spot one of their own on the field if they pay special attention. Searcy High School senior Amber Breaux will be on the field during pre-game and half-time festivities as part of America’s Homecoming Queens Celebration. When Breaux was chosen as SHS’s homecoming queen for 2011, she was surprised, she said, but being chosen to participate in the Liberty Bowl game through America’s Homecoming Queens National Pageant

Please see QUEEN | 2A

New trial ordered in Tyson lawsuit

Marisa Lytle/mlytle@thedailycitizen.com

Gaash Lockhart, 3, plays a Sesame Street computer game at the Searcy Public Library on Thursday. The library is open Mondays and Thursdays 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Associated Press

Abortion rules, tax cut among new Arkansas laws BY ANDREW DEMILLO Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — New requirements on facilities that provide the abortion pill and a tax cut on the purchase of used cars are among the new laws that Arkansas residents will see with the new year. The laws are among more than a dozen that take effect on Jan. 1, along with measures ranging from a pilot program to offer morbid obesity coverage and a requirement that new homes include carbon monoxide detectors. The new licensing requirement was one of the few victories anti-abortion groups saw

in the Legislature, with at least 10 other abortion-related bills never reaching the House floor for a final vote. It requires facilities that perform 10 or more nonsurgical abortions a month to be licensed by the state Health Department and be subject to inspections by the department, the same requirements faced by facilities that offer surgical abortions in the state. It will affect two facilities operated by Planned Parenthood that offer the abortion pill, though they’re not singled out in the statute. Arkansas Right to Life, which pushed for the change, said the

requirements are needed to protect women who go to the clinics and so regulators could have more information about the facilities. “We want to end abortions, but we also understand there is a safety issue,” said Rose Mimms, the group’s executive director. “We care about the woman and want to make sure that places that are doing abortions aren’t harming women.” Planned Parenthood, however, said that its clinics are already regulated like any other health care facility and abide by the state Medical Practices Act. During the legislative session,

Planned Parenthood warned that its clinics in Fayetteville and Little Rock would have to add procedure and recovery rooms, space that’s not needed in facilities that don’t perform surgery, in order to comply with the law. The group said in a statement in December that it’s ready for the new law, but declined to elaborate on what adjustments it’s made at the facilities. “We are in compliance with all current state laws and regulations and have made all administrative adjustments necessary to meet the new

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A new trial has been ordered in a sexual discrimination lawsuit against Tyson Foods Inc. The ruling, published Wednesday, by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, overturns a federal jury’s verdict that awarded Retha Weems $600,000 in her discrimination claim against the Springdale-based company. Weems argued that she was demoted as a plant manager by Tyson because of her gender and later passed over for another plant manager job in favor of two men. Tyson appealed the verdict and a three judge panel ruled that a federal judge

Please see LAWS | 3A

Please see TYSON | 2A

INDEX NATION & STATE, 2A OPINIONS, 4A LIFESTYLES, 5A CALENDAR/OBITUARIES, 6A SPORTS, 1B CLASSIFIEDS, 5B

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Nothing is easy to the unwilling. THOMAS FULLER Clergyman, 1608-1661

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Page 2A • Friday, December 30, 2011

The Daily Citizen

FROM PAGE ONE

US job market ends year in better shape Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The long-suffering job market is ending the year better off than it began. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits each week has dropped by 10 percent since January. The unemployment rate, 8.6 percent in November, is at its lowest level in nearly three years. Factory output is rising, business owners say they’re more optimistic about hiring and consumer confidence has jumped to its highest level since April. Even the beleaguered housing market is looking slightly better. “We are ending the year on an up note,” says Joel

Jacob Brower/jbrower@thedailycitizen.com

Two-vehicle crash injures drivers Emergency personnel work the scene of a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Moore and Davis at approximately 3:30 p.m. Thursday. A Pontiac Aztec, pictured here, and a Nissan Sentra collided, causing the Pontiac to roll over. The driver of the Pontiac was transported to White County Medical Center with a nonlife-threatening arm injury, and the driver of the Nissan was unharmed. Neither driver had passengers in their vehicles at the time of the crash. The identities of the drivers were not available as of press time.

TYSON: Man remains an employee

State Briefs

of the company, spokesman says CONTINUED FROM 1A

No Arkansas Sears, Kmart closings on partial list LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Sears Holding Corp. has released a list of 79 planned store closings and none of them are in Arkansas. The company announced earlier this week it would close between 100 and 120 stores among its Sears and Kmart holdings. The store closings announced Thursday comprise only part of the planned closings. Sears Holding Corp. cited dismal holiday sales as the reason for the closures. The company

Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. Still, 25 million Americans remain out of work or unable to find full-time jobs. Most analysts forecast a stronger economy and job growth in 2012 — and rule out a second recession — but they caution that could change if Europe’s debt crisis worsens or consumers pull back on spending. On Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of people applying for unemployment benefits last week rose 15,000 to 381,000. But the fourweek average, a less volatile measure, dropped to 375,000 — the lowest level since June 2008.

says it wants to focus on its cash-producing stores rather than propping up stores with poor sales and hoping revenues will improve.

Greenwood firefighters’ pager system fails GREENWOOD, Ark. — Greenwood firefighters were late getting to a kitchen fire when their pager system failed and the house burned to the ground. No one was injured in the fire early Wednesday but the home was a total loss.

Greenwood Fire Chief Stewart Bryan says a dispatcher called him at 3:30 a.m. Wednesday with the fire report and he sent a mass text message to his department. He also sent a page to contact two other area fire chiefs to try to get more firefighters to the scene. The Southwest Times Record reports the paging system wasn’t operating and a backup was also out of order. Bryan says that by the time firefighters arrived, the fire had already come through the roof. The pager system was back on line Wednesday afternoon.

was wrong to allow the jury to hear about a separation agreement Tyson offered to Weems. The agreement would have settled Weems’ complaints for a portion of her salary and medical benefits, if she left her job. The judges agreed with Tyson’s argument that the separation proposal was an offer to compromise with Weems and said its introduction prejudiced the jury against Tyson.

Weems remains a Tyson employee, company spokesman Worth Sparkman told the Northwest Arkansas Times. Sparkman declined comment on the court’s ruling. A secretary for Weems’ attorney, Stephen Lee Wood of Rogers, told the newspaper that Wood is out of the office this week. Wood had argued that the judge’s error was harmless and did not significantly impact their verdict.

QUEEN: The name of each Homecoming Queen in the nation is listed in America’s Homecoming Registry CONTINUED FROM 1A

Registry was even more unexpected. “I was surprised they picked me out of so many girls,” she said. “I feel honored to go and be a part of it.” The name of each Homecoming Queen in the nation is listed in America’s Homecoming Registry; from that list, a small percentage of those girls were invited to Memphis, Tenn., to

participate in the Liberty Bowl events. The selection was based on academic achievements, community activities and all-around Breaux status as “outstanding individuals.” The queens’ events began

Thursday evening with registration and a welcome reception and orientation in the Tennessee Ballroom at the Double Tree Downtown Hotel in Memphis. Today, the girls will tour St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and then head to the 53rd annual Liberty Bowl Parade on Beale Street, for which the queens will don tiaras, Liberty Bowl sweatshirts and sashes bearing the names of the states they are representing.

On Saturday, the queens will all dress in white evening gowns as they participate in the red, white and blue patrioticthemed pre-game ceremony. Kickoff will be at 2:30 p.m. CST on ABC. The queens will take part in the halftime show, as well, alongside KC and the Sunshine Band and children from St. Jude. Breaux’s father, Dwayne, said friends and family will watch the game in support of Amber.

“We have a lot of family in Louisiana,” he said. “We’re putting up reminders on Facebook for them to watch the game. And Amber has lots of friends who will be watching.” “I’m really thankful I was picked to be a part of this,” Breaux said. For more information on the Autozone Liberty Bowl or on the Homecoming Queen Celebration, people may visit www. autozonelibertybowl.org.

HEALTH: ‘The bill essentially sets up a federally mandated health exchange in Arkansas,’ lawmaker says CONTINUED FROM 1A

of a role in protecting our consumers and state taxpayer dollars. The partnership will allow us to apply for federal grants to make sure the cost of putting the exchange in place is funded by federal money rather than by state money.” Although the exchange would still be controlled by the federal government, DeCample said the partnership would allow Arkansas a voice in the process. According to DeCample, the Supreme Court is set to hear arguments concerning the Affordable Care Act in March or April and to make a decision sometime in the summer. “The exchanges are not being debated in the Supreme Court,” DeCample said, “but, if the court’s decision is for the entire

bill to be tossed, then, obviously, the exchanges would go away, too.” State Rep. Mark Biviano, R-Searcy, said he believes that although the health insurance exchange partnership is worthy of discussion, he hopes the state will wait until the Supreme Court’s ruling before moving ahead with the partnership. “The partnership is worth investigating,” he said. “In fact, when this bill was first proposed, a partnership with the private sector was suggested, which is something that

has been successful in other states. We should explore options, but for now we should wait until the Supreme Court decides if the bill is constitutional or not. We should not waste our resources and money on something that has not yet been decided.” Biviano added that people are mistaken in thinking receiving federal grant money is a satisfactory solution and also in thinking the state has lost all opportunity to have a state-run exchange. “The bill essentially sets up a federally mandated

Corrections The Daily Citizen corrects factual errors promptly and courteously. If you have a correction or clarification, please call Editor Jacob Brower at (501) 2688621 or e-mail him at jbrower@thedailycitizen.com.

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health exchange in Arkansas,” he said. “For that, Arkansas would receive certain federal grant money to set up that exchange. Some people maintain that by not accepting the grant money, we are potentially giving control over to the federal government. But, when we accept federal grant money, there are always strings attached. In addition, there are opportunities within the bill for Arkansas to come back and have a state-run exchange if we choose to do so at a

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later date.” According to Biviano, the legislature has not had opportunity to give input on the partnership plan. “We have not been allowed to take part in the discussions about the partnership,” he said. “I hope that in going forward we will be allowed to participate in the discussions and give our input. It is important for people to understand that the implementation of a

health care exchange is the first step toward implementation of Obamacare in Arkansas.” According to a Dec. 22 Associated Press article, Beebe said he expects the federal government to decide in the next couple of months whether Arkansas has received the grant. A decision on whether to participate in the partnership would come from the federal government by 2013, he said.

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