Members of the Arizona Hospital and Health Care Association have proposed a self-imposed fee that would temporarily cover the state's one-third match on Medicaid enrollees in order to avoid the state's other proposed Medicaid cuts, according to a Daily Courier report.
The self-imposed fee would not dip into the state's budget but would translate into a tax increase for the hospitals. It would also expire in Oct. 2014 when a provision of the healthcare reform law would kick in, requiring the federal government to cover Medicaid costs.
Arizona state lawmakers proposed a list of deep Medicaid cuts, including changes to Medicaid enrollment for childless adults that are already in effect. The proposal, which has yet to be approved by the federal government, could cause more than 100,000 individuals to lose Medicaid coverage. In turn, hospitals would lose a collective $530 million under the proposed plan.
Although some lawmakers are considering the self-imposed fees as an alternative to the state's proposed Medicaid plan, others are confident it would not survive a two-thirds approval in the Legislature.
Read the Daily Courier news report about Arizona Medicaid.