Ducey today unveiled his new plan for AHCCCS, which includes co-pays, premiums, work requirements and wellness incentives. The proposal revolves around AHCCCS CARE, a sort of health savings account for some Medicaid patients. (The new acronym stands for Choice, Accountability, Responsibility and Engagement.)

A hearing for arguments on the constitutionality of a fee collected from hospitals to pay for an expansion of Arizona's Medicaid program has been postponed.

The possibility of the feds refusing to approve a 5-percent cut in Medicaid provider reimbursements appears to have been a major motivator in AHCCCS and the Ducey administration’s decision to find an alternative.

Gov. Doug Ducey and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System decided not to impose substantial cuts on Medicaid providers that could have cost the state’s health care industry up to $95 million over the next three years.

Lawmakers have been trying to impose premiums and copays on Arizona’s Medicaid enrollees starting next January, but that decision is ultimately up to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. And if past experiences were a guide, it’s going to be a tough sell.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper has rejected arguments by Tom Betlach, director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System – Arizona’s Medicaid program – that he can effectively protect our state’s expanded Medicaid program by serving as sole defender in a lawsuit filed by the Goldwater Institute.

Four AHCCCS patients can intervene as defendants in the lawsuit against Arizona’s Medicaid expansion program because they have a direct stake in the outcome and the program’s director may not adequately represent their interests, a Maricopa County judge said.

A liberal public interest law firm is asking a judge to allow four AHCCCS patients to intervene as defendants in the lawsuit against Medicaid expansion, arguing that the program’s director can’t be trusted to represent their interests because he answers to a governor who opposes the 2013 policy.

The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest wants to intervene as a defendant in the lawsuit against Medicaid expansion, arguing that AHCCCS Director Tom Betlach does not necessarily represent the interests of its clients, four childless adults that are receiving Medicaid coverage as a result of the 2013 law.

The fiscal year 2016 budget may only the beginning of a year of bad news for Arizona hospitals, which could face a doomsday scenario depending on the outcome of two big lawsuits.