The state's high court this morning upheld the legality of an assessment on hospitals that helps pay for health care for 400,000 Arizonans.

The fate of health care for 400,000 Arizonans could depend on what seven justices of the state Supreme Court believe voters said they wanted 25 years ago.

Will Gaona, a five-session veteran at the Capitol, is in his third year with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, often fighting uphill battles at the Capitol for progressive causes not often embraced by a predominantly Republican Legislature.

The court said the law imposed an assessment that is exempt from the requirement that any act by lawmakers increasing state revenues, such a tax hike, must get a two-thirds vote in the Legislature.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge upheld former Gov. Jan Brewer’s 2013 Medicaid expansion plan, ruling that a hospital assessment that funds the program is not subject to a provision in the Arizona Constitution that requires a two-thirds vote in the Legislature for a tax increase.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey wants able-bodied Arizonans on the state's Medicaid program for the poor to pay into health savings accounts and be charged co-pays for some services, but those proposals and others he's touting got a tough reception at the first meeting where the public was allowed to weigh in.

Conservative opponents of former Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan will finally get their day in court. Judge Douglas Gerlach will hear arguments in the case in Maricopa County Superior Court at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

Gov. Doug Ducey will get to keep his name off of the court case over his predecessor’s controversial Medicaid expansion program.

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that 36 Republican lawmakers have standing to sue over Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion program, dealing a potentially crushing blow to one of Brewer’s signal accomplishments just days before she leaves office and threatening to take away health care from a quarter million people.

With the new year upon us, there are a host of issues state leaders likely will face in 2015. Here are 10 things to watch for in Arizona politics and government for the coming year.