Arizona Proposition 204 Boosts Medicaid Enrollment by 45,000, Arizona Daily Star Reports

Roughly 45,000 Arizonans have enrolled in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program, since eligibility requirements were eased on April 1 as part of a voter-passed initiative, the Arizona Daily Star reports (Erikson, Arizona Daily Star, 7/5). Last November, voters approved Proposition 204, an initiative known as Healthy Arizona that requires the state to spend money from the national tobacco settlement to expand AHCCCS eligibility. Under Healthy Arizona, the state now covers individuals whose eligibility is categorically linked to Medicaid (such as parents of Medicaid-enrolled children) up to 100% of the federal poverty level, or about $17,050 per year for a family of four. The state also covers individuals whose eligibility is not linked to Medicaid (such as single male adults and women who are not pregnant) up to 100% of poverty as well. The old limit was 34% of poverty, or $6,000 per year for a family of four, for both groups (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/19). According to AHCCCS spokesperson Frank Lopez, 28,000 of the new AHCCCS beneficiaries were shifted from other state health programs for the mentally ill, poor seniors and "others deemed 'medically needy' but with income levels above the former AHCCCS limits." The remaining 17,000 are parents of children already enrolled in AHCCCS or Kids Care, Arizona's CHIP program. Cathy Nichols, daughter and campaign manager of the late state Sen. Andy Nichols (D), author of the proposition, said, "The concern is for people outside the system entirely who don't really know they're eligible now, and getting the word out to them" (Arizona Daily Star, 7/5). Through Healthy Arizona, AHCCCS is expected to cover 185,000 additional adults, including 65,000 working poor whose children are enrolled in AHCCCS or Kids Care; 74,000 seniors and disabled Medicare beneficiaries who have difficulty paying for prescription drugs; and 45,000 childless adults who earn too much to qualify for AHCCCS but cannot afford private insurance (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 1/19). AHCCCS intends to begin statewide promotions later this summer (Arizona Daily Star, 7/5).