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Brewer calls transplants “potentially life-saving” in letter to Congress
The organ transplants that Gov. Jan Brewer has repeatedly described as “optional” sounded a lot more serious when she asked Congress for relief from federal health care mandates.
Playing semantics with transplant funding
Although her office has consistently characterized the transplants no longer provided by AHCCCCS as "optional," in a recent letter to the incoming speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Brewer said the state has been forced to stop providing "potentially life-saving procedures" because of the federal health care mandate.
A recent history of Arizona’s state budget
The $2.2 billion shortfall Arizona faces over the next two years didn't show up overnight, and it isn't due to a single person, decision or event.
Lots of ideas in the mix for balancing state budget
To balance the budget, lawmakers must cut spending, find more money or do some combination of the two.
Arizona eyes health care program for new budget cuts
Cash-short Arizona's budget troubles could put the state's Medicaid program on the chopping block again, with the possibility of hundreds of thousands of low-income people losing their government-funded health care.
AHCCCS eligibility headed back to ballot?
GOP leaders are eyeing a resolution in the upcoming session that would allow voters to reconsider AHCCCS eligibility requirements, in an attempt to roll back the standard set by Prop 204 without running afoul of the voter protections afforded by Prop 105.
Gov. Brewer says Ariz. wants Medicaid waiver
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Thursday she'll ask for a waiver under the federal health care overhaul so Arizona can reduce its Medicaid rolls to lower costs that Brewer and fellow Republicans say the cash-short state can't afford. If approved, the change could mean the loss of government-funded health care for hundreds of thousands of people.
Hospital chain bracing for Medicaid cuts
Banner Health is threatening to withhold pay raises next year because of state cuts to the Medicaid medical program for the poor.
Republicans stand by transplant funding cuts
Like many states grappling with record-breaking budget deficits, Arizona has had to cut back on its health care and social services. What makes Arizona unique is the extent it has gone to save money — by restricting coverage of certain transplant procedures, arguing that they are optional or palliative. Yet the cuts are putting vulnerable Arizonans at risk of dying without the money to pay for p[...]
Democrats to demand restoration of transplant funding
Arizona Democratic legislative leaders have scheduled a Tuesday news conference to demand that Gov. Jan Brewer and the Republican-led Legislature restore state funding for medical transplants.
Pearce: Transplant denials not our fault
The ramifications of state budget cuts to AHCCCS have come home to roost, as evidenced by the story in this morning's New York Times about what it called "death by budget cut."
Arizona school officials brace for budget cuts
Arizona school officials are bracing for more and deeper budget cuts as the state faces continued shortfalls.
