Hospital executives in a red state are on board with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's plan to impose a provider fee to expand the state's Medicaid program, according to a report from the Ahwatukee Foothills News.
The federal government will foot the bill for the first three years of qualifying Medicaid expansions that accept more nearly-poor childless adults. Gov. Brewer, a historically vocal opponent of President Barack Obama's administration and the healthcare law, said in her State of the State address last week that she's making the best of a law Republicans were unable to beat after the Supreme Court upheld most of it.
Tucson Medical Center CEO Judy Rich told the Ahwatukee Foothills News, "We've seen our uncompensated care close to triple in the last 18 months. And other hospitals across the state have also struggled under the weight of the dramatic increases of bad debt and charity care."
The provider fee Gov. Brewer proposes would raise an additional $220 million annually to accept about 240,000 more people into Medicaid.
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