Sebelius visits Phoenix call center, offers few solutions to ‘Obamacare’ website problems
As lawmakers on Capitol Hill grilled contractors responsible for HealthCare.gov, the failing website allowing access to a new federal health-insurance marketplace, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was thousands of miles away in Arizona.
Sebelius: AZ health centers get $2.3 Million to enroll uninsured
Arizona health centers are receiving $2.3 million to help patients find insurance under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law.
Fed deadline extension delays Brewer decision on insurance exchange
Gov. Jan Brewer won’t decide on Friday whether to establish a state-run health insurance exchange after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today extended the deadline to Dec. 14.
Federal money for health exchange puts Brewer in bind
The $30 million that Arizona received this week from the Obama administration will help the state develop and design a health insurance exchange website that can seamlessly interact with Medicaid.
But the pot of money, particularly given its size, potentially poses legal and political complications for Gov. Jan Brewer, who is against the federal health care overhaul and led Arizona in sui[...]
Arizona gets $30M from feds for state-based exchange
Arizona today received $30 million in grant money from the Obama administration to help the state establish a health insurance exchange.
This is on top of the $1 million in planning grant the state earlier got.
The exchange, which is aimed at making it easier for individuals and small businesses to purchase health insurance, is a key component of the federal health care ove[...]
U.S. Health Department lays out flexible timetable for state insurance exchanges
Arizona lawmakers who are hesitant about creating a state-run health insurance exchange, a key provision of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, will have some extra time to debate the issue.
Brewer will seek to restore transplant coverage in AHCCCS plan
Gov. Jan Brewer made an official request for the feds to approve her Medicaid reform plan, submitting a proposal that would freeze enrollment for adults on AHCCCS, cut reimbursement to health care providers and scale back some benefits.
Lawmakers split on two AHCCCS plans, while AzHHA may have to wait for both to fail
A bed tax proposed by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association is a distant Plan C in the Legislature as lawmakers look to overhaul AHCCCS, but the trade group is hoping it might win by default if lawsuits block the state from cutting its Medicaid program.
Don’t ask, do yell: AHCCCS knew it might not need fed permission to cut patients, but state made a fuss anyway
On Feb. 15, when U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius informed Arizona that it could cut 250,000 people from Medicaid without federal permission, it wasn’t nearly as much of a surprise for Gov. Jan Brewer as it was for most Arizonans.
Brewer pondering AHCCCS freeze
Gov. Jan Brewer is considering freezing Medicaid enrollment as early as April 1 for childless adults as part of a phase-out preparation for kicking 250,000 people off of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.
At long-awaited meeting, Sebelius tells Brewer: Put requests in writing
A long-sought meeting between Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius took 15 minutes on Monday and ended with a typical government response: Put it in writing.
Ariz. Senate panel votes to kill Medicaid program
A divided Arizona Senate committee voted Wednesday to eliminate the cash-short state's Medicaid program and replace it with a much smaller system that would cover only a fraction of low-income people now served.