Last Thursday, a U.S. District Court sided with a coalition of cities, interest groups and Pima County to issue an injunction against rules finalized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that would disrupt Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare marketplaces and lower the quality of available plans.
Pima County joined...Available To All
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) of 2025 made heavy cuts to the bottom line of state Medicaid programs through a number of small directives aimed at curbing federal spending. Most obvious is the implementation of work requirements for Medicaid eligibility, but state-directed payments and provider taxes are also under reform. A new...Arizona News
On Saturday, the Arizona State Legislature adjourned sine die and Governor Katie Hobbs signed an $18.3 billion budget bill into law with strong bipartisan support. The bill includes tax cuts and major curbs on spending while funding critical health and community services. The budget compromise also includes increases in eligibility...CMS Rules
The provision getting the most attention in the interim final rule is that HHS declined to give states flexibility to create additional categories of "medically frail" Medicaid beneficiaries exempt from the new work requirements. The agency said the five exemption categories established in federal law are broad enough to cover...
Last Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule that will implement new policies next year including eligibility restrictions and expanded access to non-traditional health plans.
The rules will allow plans that otherwise would not qualify for the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) insurance exchange,...
With the Medicaid work requirement guidance deadline looming, the advisory panel that reports to Congress on Medicaid voted to recommend that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should develop a plan for monitoring and evaluating Medicaid work requirements and how these policies affect eligibility, enrollment, spending,...Arizona News
Hospitals are bracing for the incoming effects of Medicaid cuts contained in the Trump administration's signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed earlier this year. Health systems are beginning to review pediatric care in preparation for Medicaid cuts driving emergency department overcrowding.
In hospital...National News
Republicans are on the defensive against criticism of the Medicaid cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump earlier this summer.
Representative David Schweikert of Arizona told the Arizona Republic in an interview that the cuts were simply the responsible thing to do and will...National News
Federal work requirements contained in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) may conflict with the work requirement programs that some states, including Arizona, were already planning to implement themselves.
For example, the Arizona work requirement proposal includes an additional measure banning "able-bodied adults" from receiving...
Senate Republicans are looking to push a bipartisan bill focused on healthcare. The bill would purportedly include pharmacy benefit manager and Medicare Advantage reform, in exchange for the extension of some healthcare subsidies to entice support from Congressional Democrats.
Many are cynical that bipartisan dealmaking could be on...
Healthcare providers across the nation and in Arizona are bracing for the potential impacts from Medicaid cuts as lawmakers scramble to clean up the big, ugly mess caused by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Although more than two million Arizonans rely on and receive health coverage from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment...
