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Affordable Care Act – too big to fail and too big to ignore
How does the Affordable Care Act affect me and my community? Well, that is a big question with a big answer. ACA is big, it is more than the marketplace and mandates – which, by the way, is still the law. It is a whole system of care and infrastructure and problem solving intended to make us healthier as a nation.
State misses waiver deadline for able-bodied adults on Medicaid
Arizona missed its own deadline to send a waiver to the federal government asking for work requirements for able-bodied adults on the state’s Medicaid program.
Arizona gives ‘low income’ assorted meanings
A family of four can bring in more than $60,000 annually to be considered low income for the state’s recently expanded voucher program, allowing them to access more funds to attend private school. But to be considered low income for various other state programs, like ones that allow the poor to buy food or basic necessities like toilet paper, the line is much lower, meaning fewer people qualify [...]
Don’t turn Medicare into a voucher plan
Just because the Republican Party has majorities in the House and Senate and in the president, it is not a mandate to destroy Medicare with a “voucher” plan to pay outright subsidies to insurance companies who make big contributions to many members of Congress.
New VA head: 18 vets left off wait list have died
In a new revelation in the growing VA scandal, the organization's acting head says that an additional 18 veterans whose names were kept off an official electronic Veterans Affairs appointment list have died.
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.
Former senators eying Medicaid referendum that could delay any expansion
Former Sens. Frank Antenori and Ron Gould, GOP rivals of Gov. Jan Brewer who were frequently on the receiving end of her veto stamp, are hoping to return the favor.
If the Legislature approves the Medicaid expansion, the former lawmakers want to put it on the 2014 ballot in the hopes of convincing voters to reject Brewer’s proposal.
Telemedicine services cut back in Cochise and 96 other U.S. counties
Medicare will no longer cover telemedicine in Cochise County and 96 other U.S. counties because they are now considered urban areas, instead of rural ones. Because of the realignment of standard metropolitan statistical areas, about 1 million Medicare beneficiaries located in rural areas across the country will be affected, many who have been receiving healthcare with the help of telemedicine.
Governor’s Medicaid expansion plan affirms the will of voters
Arizonans are watching as the misinformed rhetoric and vitriol obfuscate an issue that close to a million voters made perfectly clear they support. . .twice.
Brewer proposal would put unprecedented power in AHCCCS director’s hands
By using a loophole in Proposition 108 that may allow her to sidestep the need to get a two-thirds vote for her Medicaid expansion plan, Gov. Jan Brewer would be putting an unprecedented amount of power in her AHCCCS director’s hands.
AHCCCS expansion on the ropes after federal matching funds decision
Plans to restore deep cuts made to Arizona’s Medicaid program are on life support after federal health care officials dashed the state’s hopes of getting extra financial help.
Sinema confident about CD9 lead
Arizona’s new hypercompetitive 9th Congressional District lived up its billing, with Democratic nominee Kyrsten Sinema holding a narrow but growing lead over Republican Vernon Parker in a race that was still undecided at the end of election night. As of Wednesday evening, Sinema, a former legislator from central Phoenix, leads by 2,715 votes.
