Arizona Program that Provides ‘Life-Sustaining’ Medical Treatments to Undocumented Immigrants Set To Run Out of Funds Oct. 1

During a special Sept. 24 legislative session convened by Arizona Gov. Jane Hull (R), state lawmakers will discuss the fate of the State Emergency Services program, which provides free dialysis, chemotherapy and other "life-sustaining" medical treatments to about 200 undocumented immigrants per year, the Arizona Daily Star reports. The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program, can no longer pay the $20 million annually to run the program because the federal government "backed out of an agreement with the state to help pay the health care of undocumented people who aren't covered by Medicaid." AHCCCS spokesperson Frank Lopez said the change happened after voters last November passed Proposition 204, which expanded Medicaid eligibility (Innes, Arizona Daily Star, 9/17). The measure requires the state to spend money from the national tobacco settlement to expand AHCCCS eligibility: 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, and those 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 previous limit was 34% of poverty, or $6,000 per year for a family of four, for both groups (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/9). The Daily Star reports that because Proposition 204 "constituted a change to a federal program -- Medicaid -- it also subjected local health programs to federal approval."

Continuing the Program
For the program to continue, legislators must approve a law to extend it, Francie Noyes, a Hull spokesperson, said. "The program goes away Oct. 1. The governor cannot wave a magic wand and continue a program that legally has ceased to exist. It's almost a technicality, but it's an important technicality in keeping the program going." Noyes said Hull believes the program could use money Arizona receives for having a "disproportionate" number of poor people in its health care programs. State Sen. Ramon Valadez (D) said that Hull "hasn't left us with a lot of alternatives," adding, "The plain and simple truth is that people's lives are at stake and we have to deal with it." Dr. Sam James, a University of Arizona Health Sciences Center nephrologist, said, "It's getting a little desperate now because time is going by. I think lawmakers ought to be compassionate. These are people. People are people, and we need to make a decision about helping illegal aliens" (Arizona Daily Star, 9/17).