PHOENIX (AZFamily) — There’s growing concern for state leaders with possible federal spending cuts and the impact that could have on the future of Medicaid.
More than two million people in Arizona are enrolled in Medicaid, known as AHCCCS.
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its budget resolution which included house committees to be ordered to cut costs. The Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Medicaid, is being tasked with cutting at least $880 billion over ten years.
“Medicaid is hugely problematic because it has a lot of fraud, waste and abuse. Everybody knows that. We all know it intuitively,” said Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Arizona Public Health Association Executive Director Will Humble says people who are enrolled under Arizona’s low-income expansion could lose their coverage if federal funding falls below a certain level.
“You can’t get $800 billion in ten years without going after Medicaid,” said Humble. “We’re looking at about 550,000 people in Arizona that would lose their Medicaid insurance.”
He says the areas that would see the biggest impact would be rural Arizona and smaller communities.
If that does happen, it could cost Arizona taxpayers almost $1 billion to keep coverage for everyone. Humble says it would be possible to find money to pay for that, but Governor Hobbs has said there’s no way the state could fund that.
“These are our tax dollars that we are sending to Washington. They owe us back,” said Governor Katie Hobbs.
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Source: 500k Arizonans could lose health insurance with looming federal funding cuts
