Budget shortcomings for 2012

U.S.A. Arizona

Published

Received a letter from CEO saying AZ will be having another budget shortcoming for 2012 which means more cuts in healthcare funding, which also means loss in federal funding as well due to the fact the federal government matches state funding dollar per dollar. I foresee another round of hiring and wage freezes again. Maybe it's time to move out of arizona.

AZ will be tricky the next few years but I don't think there are many states immune from this slowdown. I was thinking about ideal places to move (jobs, low cost of living, good climate, clean and available water, etc) and it was slim pickins. I think there are only 3 states without budgetary crises.

Sounds like Brewer will soon eliminate almost 300k patients from AHCCCS. That has to add headwind to the local hospital cash flow and may result in the elimination of federal funding.

Specializes in ICU, Research, Corrections.

A large Phx chain of hospitals already have a wage freeze for 2011. I can't

say which one, but a LARGE one.

Hospitals are going to go to hell in a hand basket if AHCCCS is that

deeply cut. :devil:

A large Phx chain of hospitals already have a wage freeze for 2011. I can't

say which one, but a LARGE one.

Hospitals are going to go to hell in a hand basket if AHCCCS is that

deeply cut. :devil:

Banner has wage freeze.

Hospitals will find a way to bill private patients and add surcharges to make up the difference. I hate to put it this way, being an ardent supporter of universal healthcare, but AZ managed before 2000 when these people did not have insurance and they will somehow manage afterwards. I find it ironic that a state that places such high priority on job creation would willingly kill several thousand healthcare jobs.

Yesterday's news was an eye opener. Brewer was planning to significantly cut AHCCCS but now the AZ Senate is proposing a bill that cuts AHCCCS down to about 100k pts (from ~1.2million according to the evening news). Plan is to only cover some LTC and some seriously mentally ill. Probably just a trial balloon but the compromise could be dire for local healthcare. Cutting AHCCCS eliminates huge federal healthcare funding in AZ.

We can all imagine what that does to AZ jobs: docs, nurses, hospitals, residency programs as well as local company insurance plans having to offset/subsidize the uncovered healthcare picked up by AZ hospital ERs. That will last for a while until companies or employees move.

http://www.examiner.com/health-news-in-phoenix/cutting-or-killing-ahcccs-is-economically-risky

The Arizona Hospital Association forecasts that Brewer's planned cuts will result in about 2,000 hospital employees losing their jobs.

It's amazing that they will cut state insurance but yet give 500million dollars in tax cuts to business owners next year...it really doesn't add up.

Wow, all I can say is wow! The strong Healthcare Industry is the ONLY thing that has kept this valley afloat during this depression (yes folks, its a depression). And is AHCCCS gets canceled, Phoenix will become like Detroit after the automakers failed. Whats a home worth in Detriot? Can you get any kind of decent employment there? Will any business locate there (even with new crafty tax cuts for them)?

One year until Phoenix becomes Detriot, Mark my words....

One can only hope this is political posturing. The proposed AHCCS cuts will lop $7.5 billion dollars off of the state budget. I normally question the intelligence of Republicans, much less AZ Republican lawmakers, but that idea is so flat out stupid I think it is merely putting on a show. One piece of good news - if it did go through nothing proposed by any political party would push this nation faster towards a system of universal health insurance (just let the much vaunted private sector hospitals go bankrupt and let the consumers get slammed with 300% cost increases on their insurance premiums/co-pays/deductibles). Well, the voters got what they asked for...now they just have to live with the consequences.

http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2011/02/23/ariz-senate-panel-votes-to-kill-medicaid-program/

Brewer wanted to keep about 1 million in the current AHCCCS program. Early Weds an AZ Senate panel voted 8-5 to kill the program and only cover 100k persons (some LTC and SMI). That would eliminate $7.5 Billion in federal funding and wreak local healthcare havoc. Seems hard to imagine there is much to debate.

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