Despite the sweeping investigation that revealed a massive fraud scandal billing Arizona's Medicaid program, new investigations into behavioral health fraud and fake sober living homes targeting Indigenous communities continue to turn up illegal...
A new RAND analysis of the Medicaid provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act suggests Arizona could face some of the largest fiscal and enrollment impacts in the country over the next decade.
The research report published last week finds that expansion states with heavy use of state-directed payments and provider...
Last week, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) released a white paper on its recommendations for value-based care model alignment policies for nursing facilities and assisted living communities.
AHCA argues in the paper, titled "Advancing Accountable Care for Long Term Care...Arizona Comings & Goings
Warren Whitney was promoted to chief administrative officer for Valleywise Health, he was formerly the SVP of government affairs.Arizona Comings & Goings
Scott Trenter is now the vice president of sales at Curatus, a provider data management technology company. He was formerly the director of payor relations and contracting at Dominion Diagnostics.Arizona Comings & Goings
Chad Johnson is now providing oversight for Phoenix Children’s Medical Group administrative operations. He also serves as the the senior vice president of Phoenix Children’s Care Network.Arizona Comings & Goings
Virginia “Ginny” Rountree announced Feb. 2 that she would resign as director of AHCCCS, citing personal health concerns. Rountree had a short tenure, she was appointed October 6 and her final day was Feb. 13.
Roberta Harrison, a longtime Arizona Department of Economic Security official, now serves as interim AHCCCS...Arizona Comings & Goings
Jennifer Greening was promoted to the role of chief financial officer for Southwest Medical Imaging (SMIL). She was formerly a CPA within the organization....Arizona Comings & Goings
Jennifer Erickson is the new chief executive officer of Sonora Quest Laboratories. Erickson is taking over from David Dexter who is retiring next month after more than 26 years of leadership.
Erickson was formerly the chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Clin-Path Associates/Pathology Specialists of Arizona. She...White Papers, E books, Reports and more
Last Friday, the Congressional Budget Office published its projections on the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (HI) financial position and found that the balance will be exhausted by 2040.
The CBO estimates that the balance will increase through 2031 but then spending will outpace income by 2032. The projection builds on CBO report...
Arizona has joined a coalition of states suing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over changes to the federal childhood immunization schedule and the restructuring of the government’s vaccine advisory panel.
The lawsuit , which also names as plaintiffs Health & Human Services and Jayanta Bhattacharya from the Centers for Disease Control...
Medicare Advantage has hit a rough patch. Across the board, insurers are cutting plans in unprofitable markets, contracting benefits and now implementing new requirements in order to curb usage. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is only adding to the market's trouble by issuing notice that rates will remain the same in...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lost another recent leadership appointment this week when Deputy Secretary General Ralph Abraham abruptly resigned.
Abraham was appointed in December and served as second-in-command at the agency for just three months. According to NBC News, the reason cited was "unforseen family...National News
Released this week, the State Medicaid and CHIP Toolkit for Children's Behavioral Health Services and the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment (EPSDT) Requirements was built in response to the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act which focused on states' implementation of EPSDT obligations.
The Georgetown University...Arizona News
Last Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver ordered the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry's (ADCRR) prison healthcare system into receivership following 14 years of protracted litigation.
The litigation has included two contempt findings, millions of dollars in fines and repeated violations of a...
The Republican-led Arizona legislature has sent a number of politically-loaded healthcare-related bills to Governor Katie Hobbs's desk so far this session, and may deliver more in the coming weeks.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed nine bills on Friday, one of which would have required hospitals that accept Medicaid to request...
The effort, branded the Comprehensive Regulations to Uncover Suspicious Healthcare initiative, or CRUSH, was introduced at the White House by Vice President J.D. Vance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz as part of a broader strategy aimed...Arizona News
This month, Madison Health Group announced it plans to acquire Magellan Health from Centene, roughly five years after Centene bought the company for $2.2 billion. The transaction, pending regulatory approval, would return Magellan to independent ownership under a private equity sponsor amid increased scrutiny of behavioral health...
Nearly 787,000 Arizona beneficiaries began 2026 enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA), according to CMS January enrollment files — only a modest increase from roughly 780,058 enrollees in June 2025. The muted membership gain suggests growth may be slowing in a national and local market that this year remains flat at about 51%...
Leadership at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been shaken up once again as Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's deputy secretary and acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Jim O'Neill recently left the administration.
On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that the White House and...
A Phoenix-area family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Abrazo Health Arrowhead, alleging hospital staff discharged their 27-year-old son and transported him alone via rideshare to a downtown Phoenix location where he collapsed and died hours later, according to local reporting.
The lawsuit claims Kaelen Lachica, who had...
The 2026 Arizona Legislative Session is in full swing and healthcare industry advocates are working with lawmakers to prioritize bills that expand access to care, invest in Arizona and
The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA), which represents hospitals and health systems, provided testimony on HB 2176 to the House...
This week, international insurance and healthcare consulting firm Milliman published its annual white paper on the state of the Medicare Advantage industry.
The annual paper relies on proprietary analysis called the Milliman Medicare Advantage Competitive Value Added Tool (MACVAT®), which evaluates the relative value of Medicare...CMS Rules
New policies from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are disrupting rural health clinics' participation in value-based payment models. But a new study shows that while federal programs have increased patient access and quality of care, they have thus far failed to curb rising costs.
When the Trump administration entered...
This week, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its ten-year budget and economic outlook, which warned of Social Security insolvency, rising Medicaid spending and record high debt and deficits.
Deficits will exceed $3 trillion by 2036, totaling $24.4 trillion over the next decade and debt will reach 120% of Gross Domestic...
CMS Rules
