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Thousands helped, thousands more may still be in need after Medicaid scams
A state hotline has helped thousands of victims in the two months since state officials uncovered a string of fraudulent Medicaid-funded addiction care facilities in Arizona, but the exact scale of the problem is still unknown.
Blackfeet tribe of Montana declares emergency over Medicaid scam that lured members to Arizona
A widespread Medicaid scam that left an unknown number of Native Americans homeless in metro Phoenix is being declared a public health state of emergency by the Blackfeet Nation of Montana after the Navajo Nation took similar action in June.
Hundreds of tribal members, mostly Navajo, living on Phoenix streets amid fake sober home crackdown
Navajo law enforcement teams made contact with several hundred Native Americans from various tribes who are living on the streets in the metro Phoenix area, after the state cracked down on Medicaid fraud and suspended unlicensed sober living homes, Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch said Monday.
Arizonans at risk of losing Medicaid have options
With the end of the federal public health emergency signaling a return to “normal,” millions of Americans – including an estimated 600,000 Arizonans – are at risk of losing their Medicaid health coverage.
Petersen: state’s Medicaid program won’t have funds to pay bills unless budget deal reached soon
The state's Medicaid program won't have money to pay its bills next month unless the governor and lawmakers reach a deal -- and soon -- on at least some elements of a budget.
State begins to shed thousands from Medicaid, push them to other care
Arizona started purging people from the pandemic-inflated Medicaid rolls this month, a process that could end up pushing more than 600,000 people off the plan, health officials and advocates said.
FBI investigates rehab scams targeting Indigenous community
The FBI is investigating scams by fake rehab groups that target the Indigenous community, offering substance-abuse recovery or mental-health services at pop-up facilities to rake in government money, FBI officials say.
Legislative leaders want to pass budget ASAP, governor’s staff says it’s ‘false urgency’
Republican Senate leaders said on Tuesday that the Legislature is working with Gov. Katie Hobbs to pass the state’s budget in the next two weeks, citing an April deadline connected to federally allocated Medicaid funding, but the governor’s staff say it’s a play to create “false urgency.”
Panel targets drug, alcohol Indigenous rehab centers
Indigenous communities are calling on the Arizona Legislature to tighten regulations on drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers with reports of scammers who target and traffic Indigenous people becoming more common.
Statewide hotline to support mental health during and after pregnancy
Mental and behavioral health conditions are also a leading cause of maternal mortality in the U.S. In Arizona, nearly half of all pregnancy-associated deaths are due to mental health or substance use issues, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services. Dr. Saira Kalia, a perinatal psychiatrist at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and Dr. Kathryn Emerick, also a perinatal [...]
Arizona taking steps to combat maternal mortality, one doula at a time
Doulas in Arizona and around the country don’t deliver babies, but these nonmedical labor assistants can make a difference in maternal health outcomes. Of 30 states where the maternal mortality rate is known, Arizona ranked ninth for these deaths from 2018 to 2020, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Phoenix nursery provides model solution for newborns exposed to opioids
In central Phoenix, Hushabye Nursery is home to babies born withdrawing from addictive substances they were exposed to in the womb. Across the country, cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome increased a startling 82% from 2010 to 2017, research shows. In Arizona, these cases increased 41% from 2017 to 2021.
