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Newtown and other tragedies emphasize need for behavioral health care through expanded AHCCCS coverage
A common thread runs through the Newtown, Portland, Aurora and Tucson tragedies: One young man's troubled existence shatters the lives of multiple innocent bystanders. A vigorous debate over gun control is understandable, but it's not enough to talk about these tragedies without talking about individual health.
AHCCCS expansion on the ropes after federal matching funds decision
Plans to restore deep cuts made to Arizona’s Medicaid program are on life support after federal health care officials dashed the state’s hopes of getting extra financial help.
Top GOP lawmakers say lower Medicaid match dooms AHCCCS expansion
Influential legislators today concluded that the federal government’s decision not to infuse more dollars to states that don’t fully comply with the Affordable Care Act dealt a major blow to any proposal in the upcoming session that would seek to restore health care cuts made during the height of the recession.
Arizona’s handling of ‘dual eligible’ health-care recipients gets high marks
Arizona’s system for providing medical care for “dual eligible” people – those who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid services – was praised as a promising model for other states at a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Analysts: AZ could get cash infusion by lifting Medicaid freeze
A year ago, Republicans boasted that they made the tough decisions on state spending needed to close a massive budget deficit. The decision to freeze enrollment in state-funded health care for the poor was held up most often by Republicans as a shining example of how they addressed the festering fiscal imbalance.
But one incentive might persuade Arizona’s policymakers to let the unins[...]
Medicaid expansion appears unlikely after Supreme Court ruling
If the feds can’t force Arizona to move forward with the massive Medicaid expansion, it’s a near certainty the Republican-led Legislature won’t do it for them. Though the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the core of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act, it ruled that the federal government couldn’t force states to expand health care for the poor by threatening to take away other Medi[...]
Report finds millions in AHCCCS payments to ineligible people
Arizona’s Medicaid program may spend as much as $57 million a year on ineligible recipients, according to a report by the Auditor General’s Office.
Arizona Supreme Court refuses to hear Medicaid issue
The Arizona Supreme Court is leaving intact an eligibility reduction expected to deny government-paid health care to more than 100,000 low-income people.
State Supreme Court to consider Medicaid cuts lawsuit
The Arizona Supreme Court will decide on Feb. 15 whether to hear a case challenging $1.6 billion in cuts to the state Medicaid system.
Medicaid squeeze could squeeze some rural hospitals to death
For years, Holy Cross Hospital managed to keep the doors open to the only nursing home in Nogales, despite losing up to a reported $100,000 per month on its 26 residents, all of whom rely on Medicaid for health insurance.
Appeals court upholds state Medicaid cuts
The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld massive cuts to the state’s Medicaid program, keeping Arizona’s precariously balanced budget intact and dealing a severe blow to advocates who said the partial enrollment freeze violated voter mandates.
Brewer, hospitals announce plan to cover nearly 20,000 more on KidsCare
Three Arizona hospital systems are pooling their money to take advantage of a federal program that will cover nearly 20,000 more children under the KidsCare program while also providing millions of dollars to offset the cost of covering uninsured patients.
