Years ago, under a federal waiver, Arizona expanded its Medicaid program beyond federal requirements to include childless adults, who are not usually covered by Medicaid in other states. HHS now has ruled that Arizona could drop those recipients because there is currently no federal requirement for states to cover them.
States have been under pressure to cut Medicaid because of budgetary problems and the upcoming expiration of generous federal Medicaid subsidies in June. Following HHS' decision on Arizona, states that expanded their programs beyond federal minimums under waivers in the past might now be able to cut that enrollment, too. But they would have to wait for their waivers to expire. For example, Arizona won't be able to cut its rolls until its waiver expires on Sept. 20.
On the other hand, states that did not expand Medicaid enrollment beyond the federal minimum in the past would not be able to benefit from Arizona's example.
Read the Kaiser Health News report on Medicaid.
Read more coverage on Arizona's bid to cut Medicaid enrollees:
- HHS Sec. Sebelius Will Allow Arizona to Cut 250K Medicaid Beneficiaries
- Arizona to Ask for Medicaid Waiver to Reduce Eligibility
- Arizona Hospitals Want to Assess $300 Million Bed Tax to Counter Medicaid Cuts