CMS has approved a plan by the Arizona Medicaid program to cut payments to hospitals and other providers by 5 percent, according to a Tucson Citizen report.
The cuts to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System were included in Gov. Jan Brewer's budget and will be retroactive to Oct. 1, according to the report.
The cuts are expected to save $95 million this year and will reduce payments to 70 percent of the cost of providing the services, according to the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.
In October, CMS approved other cuts to AHCCCS, including increased co-payments and some enrollment changes. At that time, CMS delayed its decision on approving reimbursement reductions in order to ensure the cuts would not lead to the loss of a "sufficient" number of providers, according to the report.
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The cuts to the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System were included in Gov. Jan Brewer's budget and will be retroactive to Oct. 1, according to the report.
The cuts are expected to save $95 million this year and will reduce payments to 70 percent of the cost of providing the services, according to the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.
In October, CMS approved other cuts to AHCCCS, including increased co-payments and some enrollment changes. At that time, CMS delayed its decision on approving reimbursement reductions in order to ensure the cuts would not lead to the loss of a "sufficient" number of providers, according to the report.
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Arizona Court of Appeals to Consider Appeal of Reductions in State Medicaid Program