Better Together:
Arizona's Hospitals Advocate for Patients

The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA) is a statewide trade association representing hospitals, healthcare systems, affiliated health organizations, and the patients and communities they serve. With a mission of sustaining and improving the health of Arizonans, AzHHA supports its members by providing advocacy, education and services.
Medicaid expansion to help struggling Arizona medi... ktar.com | 6/17/2013
PHOENIX -- The expansion of Medicaid is a financial shot in the arm to Arizona medical centers that were struggling to survive. At Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, 25 percent of the patients in the emergency room had no insurance. Up to 50 percent of visitors to its 11 clinics were in the same situation. The medical center footed the bill. "We're talking about $120 million a year up,"...
Childless adults look forward to Medicaid expansion tucsonnewsnow.com | 6/17/2013
TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer yesterday praised the state legislature for enacting what she calls the "most sweeping health care legislation in decades." Once the Governor signs Medicaid expansion, about 300,000 Arizonans who right now are without health care coverage will be able to apply for it. The plan is designed to comply with Proposition 204, a mandate overw...
Flagstaff kids winning battle of bulge azdailysun.com | 6/17/2013
Flagstaff elementary school students have taken a couple steps in the opposite direction from most of their peers nationally in recent years. They've gotten thinner. The number of kindergarten through fifth-graders counted as at risk of being overweight or obese fell a couple of points -- from 32 percent in 2010 to 31 percent in 2011, and 28 percent this year. "This shows we are heading...
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to sign Medicaid expansion... KNXV-TV (ABC) Phoenix | 6/17/2013
PHOENIX - Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is celebrating her victory in a bruising fight over her Medicaid expansion plan by holding a signing ceremony for the law authorizing the program. The Republican governor is gathering some of the lawmakers from both parties who voted for the law to the ceremony Monday morning. Conservative Republicans in the House and Senate fought the proposal bitterly for mont...
AHCCCS still fielding questions about Brewer's hea... KTAR 92.3 Phoenix | 6/17/2013
PHOENIX -- The questions continue. Representatives of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) say they've been getting calls about Governor Brewer's Medicaid expansion plan ever since people first heard about it. At first, people were worried about the health coverage provided under Arizona's Proposition 204. "That is the voter initiative where Arizona voters mandated...
How Brewer won the day on Medicaid KPNX-TV (NBC) Phoenix | 6/16/2013
Five months after her dramatic call to extend health insurance to thousands of low-income Arizonans, Gov. Jan Brewer closed the deal by pulling together a bipartisan coalition, harnessing the power of her office and emerging as the star of this year’s legislative session. Few would have predicted this from Brewer, who crafted an image as a partisan firebrand famous for pointing her finger i...
YRMC kicks off school supplies drive Yuma Daily Sun | 6/15/2013
With school recently out for the summer, school supplies might be the last thing on people’s mind. But this is the time when the Foundation of Yuma Regional Medical Center starts collecting supplies for the next school year. The Annual Drive for School Supplies is a community-supported program that provides new backpacks and school supplies to underprivileged children in Yuma and the surrou...
Good move on budget Phoenix AZ Central | 6/15/2013
The coalition of legislators and the governor should be commended for pushing aside House Republicans John Kavanagh, Andy Tobin and their right-wing extremist buddies and passing a state budget and Medicaid expansion. As the Arizona state government moves toward the middle of the political spectrum, and the “tea party” continues to lose support, rational government will begin to emerg...
Editorial: Medicaid expansion helps most needy Prescott Daily Courier | 6/15/2013
As with every session of the Arizona Legislature, there are winners and losers. In the 2013 session that finally ended early Friday morning, there was a fair amount of both - victories and defeats, depending on which side of the fence lawmakers stood. Perhaps this particular session will go down as one of the more raucous and contentious, with marked division among Republican lawmakers, many of...
Arizona public had little input on Medicaid Phoenix AZ Central | 6/15/2013
Arizona’s five-month battle over Medicaid expansion brought people to Capitol rallies, while constituents buried lawmakers with thousands of e-mails and interest groups funded TV ads and robocalls. But despite its high profile, or maybe because of it, the public had little direct input into the legislation and just two chances — six hours of hearings in the House Appropriations Commit...

MEDICAID RESTORATION AND EXPANSION PASSES!

On June 13, 2013, the Arizona State Legislature agreed on the final details of legislation restoring Proposition 204 coverage and expanding the state's Medicaid program to other "working poor" Arizonans, and Governor Jan Brewer signed the legislative package into law June 17. The new law builds the new coverage into Arizona's successful AHCCCS program and relies on a hospital assessment to leverage the federal funds necessary to make the package financially work without a major new investment from Arizona taxpayers.

It is a major policy achievement–in particular for those Arizonans who are uninsured, or who would be if scheduled coverage rollbacks went into effect. This human need, more than anything else, is why this Association, and so many hospitals across the state, supported and worked to pass this legislation as the most important healthcare issue before the State Legislature in 30 years.

It also is an important development for the overall healthcare field, adding new funding to the system after several years of stress related to the economic decline in the nation and state. For many of our hospitals, it is a major aid–not because of any financial windfall, but rather because it will help tamp down rapidly rising uncompensated care costs. This was particularly important as hospitals face the scheduled implementation of funding cuts related to Medicare.

AzHHA thanks and commends Governor Brewer and the many legislators on both sides of the aisle who stood up to take action for what is best for Arizona. Also to be recognized are the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, the several issue coalitions that formed around this proposal, and the hundreds of organizations that came together over the course of the past session to unite in working toward passage–including, of course, our member hospitals, their leaders and able staff!

Thank you, all!

 

 

 

 

 

Greg Vigdor
President and Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 


Arizona PATIENT EDUCATION CENTER

The Arizona Patient Education Center is an initiative developed by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association to provide consumers the best resources available to make informed decisions about hospital pricing, patient safety and other helpful tips. Our goal is to provide consumer resources in a central location in a user-friendly format. AzHHA strives to make the healthcare delivery system transparent so patients can find affordable and accessible healthcare options.