Critical Component Of Arizona’s Medicaid Expansion Upheld By State’s Supreme Court
At the heart of the debate was whether a hospital assessment that was used to help pay for the program was a tax.
The Hill:
Arizona Supreme Court Upholds State's Medicaid Expansion
The Arizona Supreme Court on Friday upheld a critical component to keeping the state’s Medicaid expansion and preventing the number of people in the state’s Medicaid program from dipping. The high court unanimously ruled that a hospital assessment used to help pay for Medicaid expansion — where the federal government pays a majority of the tab but states are still on the hook for a smaller percentage — is constitutional. (Roubein, 11/17)
Arizona Republic:
Arizona Supreme Court Rejects GOP Lawmakers' Suit To Overturn State's Medicaid Expansion
The Arizona Supreme Court on Friday in an unanimous decision rejected a bid from a group of 36 current and former Republican lawmakers to overturn the state's Medicaid expansion. The lawmakers argued that a hospital assessment used to pay the state's portion of the Medicaid expansion is a tax that required a two-thirds legislative majority to enact. The 2013 Legislature narrowly approved the assessment. (Alltucker, 11/17)
In other news —
Des Moines Register:
Iowa Medicaid Starts Paying For Mental Crisis Centers, After Centerville Program Closes
Iowa human-services officials have opened a pipeline for Medicaid money to support informal mental-health crisis centers, shortly after a lack of Medicaid money contributed to the closure of a heralded southern-Iowa program. Centerville’s Oak Place center closed Oct. 31, despite widespread praise. The “crisis stabilization” center offered an informal alternative for residents with mental-health problems, many of whom otherwise would be transported to faraway hospital psychiatric units. (Leys, 11/17)
