As the Arizona Congressional Delegation addresses COVID-19, Members ask the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to stop proposed changes that would harm Arizona’s Medicaid program
WASHINGTON – Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Congressman Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01) led a letter from the Arizona Congressional Delegation urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to stop a regulation that will harm the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona’s Medicaid program, and jeopardize health care for vulnerable Arizonans.
Sinema and O’Halleran were joined on the letter by Senator Martha McSally, Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-02), Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Congressman Paul Gosar (AZ-04), Congressman Andy Biggs (AZ-05), Congressman David Schweikert (AZ-06), Congressman Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (AZ-08), and Congressman Greg Stanton (AZ-09).
“We support efforts to strengthen accountability and transparency in state Medicaid programs without causing undue harm to Arizona’s most vulnerable residents,” wrote Sinema, O’Halleran, and the Arizona Congressional Delegation.
“As we work together to address the public health crisis of COVID-19, we must ensure that the most vulnerable among us are not worried about cuts to the critical care and services provided to them through Medicaid,” said Sinema and O’Halleran in a joint statement following their letter.
CMS proposed the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation, which aims to increase transparency, but would hurt how states like Arizona can choose to fund the state share of their Medicaid programs. Arizona’s Medicaid program, known as AHCCCS, leads the nation in low administration costs, but the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation could cut critical health care services on which thousands of Arizonans rely.
Read the full letter HERE.