AZ: Medicaid Freeze

[Staragate, ADN, ASN, RN]

http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2011/07/02/arizona-medicaid-cuts-can-proceed-feds-say/

"Unless a court intervenes, an estimated 17,000 childless adults will fall off the rolls in the first month and 100,000 during the first year as part of sweeping budget cuts. That doesn't include people who would otherwise qualify for the program but will be prevented from enrolling." -- Tucson Citizen

This makes me angry. This doesn't even address the cuts to the program that covers kids. It shows the priorities of my governor and legislators.

[Rob72, ASN, RN]

Does AZ require proof of citizenship for benefits?

[Staragate, ADN, ASN, RN]

Yes it does. It requires proof of citizenship for everything but elementary education. The gov/legislature also made horrific cuts to the education budget as well, but we aren't discussing that here.

Kidscare has stopped enrollment about 2-3 years ago. That is the state insurance for those kids who don't qualify for medicaid. So now there are a plethera of uninsured, underinsured kids.

[Katie82, RN]

As someone who has worked for many years with the Medicaid population, I can tell you there are many beneficiaries that should not meet the criteria for which the program was intended. Medicaid as it exists now is a giant hole into which we are throwing billions of dollars. It needs to be cleaned up now. As a long time provider of care to this population, I could offer some no-nonsense solutions, but the decisions seem to be made by people who have little working knowledge of the actual nuts and bolts of this Program. Children should absolutely be covered if they meet income criteria (and it is quite liberal), but there are a lot of adults who should not qualify.