The expansion will make another 300,000 low-income Arizonans eligible for Medicaid by raising the income cap and allowing some previously excluded populations to enroll, including childless adults. The program already covers about 1.3 million people.
Gov. Brewer was among the first and few Republican governors to back the health law’s Medicaid expansion provision, which allows states to collect additional federal funding if they agree to ease restrictions on Medicaid eligibility. The Supreme Court relegated that portion of the law optional.
Although she has been an opponent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Gov. Brewer justified her push for the expansion by arguing that rejecting it meant Arizonans would pay federal taxes to support other states’ expansions without the benefit of their own expanded program.
Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association President and CEO Greg Vigdor said in a statement the expansion “is a tremendous relief and removes an uncertain future” for the poor and uninsured and “strengthens the ability of our hospital and health system members to care for patients throughout the state of Arizona.” Over the next four years, Arizona will become eligible for $7.9 billion in federal funding for the expanded program, according to the AzHHA.
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Mississippi Gridlock May Let Medicaid Expire in July
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