Arizona Lawmakers Consider Using Emergency Funds to Cover Dialysis, Chemotherapy for Undocumented Immigrants

Arizona lawmakers are deciding whether to grant the state's Medicaid program additional funding to cover dialysis and chemotherapy treatment for nearly 200 undocumented immigrants to replace federal funding that was cut off in November, the Arizona Republic reports. A state House health committee met Dec. 18 to consider a bill that would allow the Medicaid program, known as the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, to pay for the treatments out of the state's $20 million emergency fund, which covers all emergency procedures for undocumented immigrants. The federal government had paid for the treatments, but under a guidelines clarification issued in November, dialysis and chemotherapy are now considered treatments for chronic conditions, not emergencies. After this switch, some of the undocumented immigrants had their treatments cut off until AHCCCS was found $500,000 in temporary funding, which soon "may be exhausted." AHCCCS spokesperson Frank Lopez said that the state's emergency fund may need an additional $4 million to cover the treatments. It is uncertain, however, whether lawmakers will approve the boost, "both because of the state's budget crisis and because the patients are not legal citizens," the Arizona Republic reports. But state Sen. Joe Eddie Lopez (D), describing the bill as a life-saving measure for the undocumented immigrants, said, "They are still human beings. To cut off this program now is inhumane" (Nichols, Arizona Republic, 12/18).