Rachel Davis, executive director of the Arkansas Health Care Association, lobby group for nursing homes, has responded to a question I posed after Matt Campbell filed an ethics complaint related to the group’s support of a proposed constitutional amendment to discourage lawsuits against nursing homes and other medical providers for abuse, neglect and malpractice.

Campbell argued that the Health Care Association had to register independently as a group pushing a ballot measure because it had contributed more than 2 percent of its annual revenue to the campaign — $330,000 so far by a group that reports around $2 million a year in revenue. To date, its contributions have been funneled through a separate entity, Health Care Access for Arkansans, which has received money from other nursing home concerns, notably Michael Morton of Fort Smith.

Davis response to my question about the complaint:

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We have long supported this type of reform because it benefits Arkansans, the medical community and our members.

We have not been contacted by the Arkansas Ethics Commission regarding this complaint, nor did Mr. Campbell request any information from us before filing this complaint.

Contributions from the Arkansas Health Care Association made to the Health Care Access for Arkansans ballot initiative came from dues already collected from our members. 

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