Posted: Friday, March 6, 2015
5:44 pm
PHOENIX -- Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation Friday requiring the state ask federal permission every year, forever, to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients and kick them out of the health care program after five years.
It remains to be seen, though, whether the federal government which has rejected similar requests from other states, will grant any part of that.
In a prepared statement, gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato said the legislation will "ensure that we have a responsible Medicaid program that protect taxpayers and provide care to those who need it the most.''
But that view was not shared by Ducey's predecessor who vetoed a nearly identical measure last year. Jan Brewer said kicking potentially a half million people out of the Medicaid program would not only harm them but bring the state's health care system "to a breaking point.''
"As we all know, their medical needs will still exist," Brewer wrote in her veto message. She said those who are not getting health insurance through Medicaid instead will show up in hospital emergency rooms, get care and then be unable to pay their bills.
The fight comes down to the question of the role of the government in providing health care for those who cannot afford it. More at Source: East Valley tribune
