PHOENIX—Today in Phoenix, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) hosted a roundtable discussion with leaders of healthcare organizations to examine the potentially devastating cuts to Medicaid and their far-reaching impact on Arizona families and healthcare providers.
This comes as earlier this week, House Republicans passed a Budget Resolution that instructs the Energy and Commerce Committee to make $880 billion in cuts. These cuts would impact the millions of Arizonans who use Medicaid or the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), since roughly three-quarters of its funding comes from the federal government. Over 30% of Arizonans rely on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program in rural areas in Arizona.
“If Medicaid is cut, hospitals will close, people will lose coverage, and at the end of the day, not just the Medicaid population — because we saw this when we expanded Medicaid — but everyone gets affected, up and down the line,” said Senator Gallego. “People [will] start using the emergency room as their primary care doctors. People will put off services and to the point where they just go at last minute, and then the cost is even higher, and everyone’s insurance and premiums rates go up. So, this is a fight that is all for all Arizonans, not just those that are on Medicaid.”
Senator Gallego speaks with health care leaders in Phoenix
“Elon Musk and Donald Trump want to cut Medicaid, and they want to cut it to give tax breaks to friends and billionaires,” Senator Gallego also said. Referring to the proposed cuts, he added that, “There is not $880 billion of waste, fraud and abuse, especially in Arizona’s system.”
“If a wing of a hospital closes, that affects people on regular commercial insurance as well. So when a health care provider goes away, that affects everyone, not just those individuals who are on access, but also when the health care provider has got to make up that fiscal hole somehow, and so that drives a premium cost to commercial insurers and commercial insurers then raise their rates with employers and their employees. If anything, it creates what you might refer to as a hidden healthcare tax economy wide” said Garrick Taylor with the Association of Healthcare Plans. “So, when your colleagues in Washington are talking about making federal cuts, remind them that you’re actually shifting costs to the state. States can’t print money.”
Eight other leaders from healthcare organizations joined Senator Gallego at the roundtable discussion: Kathy Busby, Arizona Nurses Association; Brian Hummel, American Cancer Society; Pedro Cons, CEO, Adelante Health; Candy Espino, President/CEO, Arizona Council of Human Service Providers; Jessica Yanow, President/CEO, Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers; Helena Murillo, Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association; and Sam Richard, Arizona Medical Association.
Senator Gallego has consistently stood up for Medicaid. In the state legislature he was worked across the aisle to expand Medicaid in Arizona. He recently signed a letter urging Republican Congressional leadership to safeguard Medicaid and is fighting to protect access. Senator Gallego will continue hosting Medicaid town halls throughout the state in the coming months to hear directly from the families and health care workers that would be impacted by potential Medicaid cuts and amplify their stories.