A tipster tells me House Speaker Jeremy Gillam is bringing select legislators  into a private meeting next week about the continuation of the private option version of Medicaid expansion under Obamacare with select health care industry officials. Topic: Managed care.

Not all members of the legislative task force are invited, my source says. The meeting will be off Capitol grounds, reportedly at the Arkansas Poultry Federation. Public is not invited. I’m informed the idea is to counter information recently presented by a group opposed to managed care in Medicaid programs for the elderly and disabled, a change the governor is supporting. David Ramsey wrote here about this emerging split. 

Some of those excluded from the session have raised questions. I inquired of Speaker Gillam about the meeting and whether reporters might sit in. I got this response from the speaker through the House public information officer: 

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The meetings are being held Jan. 21st.

I have received numerous questions from members about managed care as it relates to Medicaid reform. As a result, I organized these informal, educational meetings to update House members on what the Task Force has already been studying.

This is not a committee meeting. These are various members meeting privately with representatives of the health care industry and managed care companies. Private educational meetings are commonplace”

Committee meetings and meetings of the full houses of the legislature are required by the Constitution to be open. Private educational meetings are not. Private educational meetings don’t qualify for per diem expense payments, but a full slate of other legislative meetings is on the schedule that day so expense payments shouldn’t be a problem.

UPDATE: The post prompted some further elaboration from the speaker:

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Just a couple of clarifications on the information you are receiving from your source.

First, I have been very clear with members that each one of them will have the opportunity to attend these meetings over the next month or two. The meetings are being divided into small groups. This is for the members who are not on the Health Reform Task Force.

Second, this is not a meeting to “counter information.” We invited health care provider representatives and managed care companies to answer questions from members about the concepts and applications of managed care.