STATE CAPITOL,
PHOENIX – Members of the Arizona State
Legislature’s Native American Caucus recently sent a letter to U.S. Health and
Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell urging her to deny Arizona’s
request for a waiver of certain requirements for the Arizona Health Care Cost
Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program. That request was sent pursuant
to the recent passage of SB 1092. If the waiver is approved, the state would be
allowed to place significant limitations on AHCCCS recipients.
SB 1092 would require that
AHCCCS recipients be employed, participating in job training or actively seeking
employment, and it would impose a 5-year lifetime enrollment limit on Medicaid
benefits. With unemployment rates on Indian reservations at record levels,
Native American legislators are concerned that these proposed restrictions would
have a devastating impact.
“SB
1092 would put an unbearable stress on Native American communities in Arizona
and would represent a continuation of centuries of oppressive treatment of
indigenous people,” said Rep. Victoria Steele, D-Tucson (District
9).
Rep. Sally Ann Gonzales,
D-Tucson (District 3), added that SB 1092 is also problematic because it sets
employment requirements but does not provide any funding for employment
resources.
“I
strongly oppose SB 1092 because it will harm hundreds of thousands of Arizonans.
It provides no money for job training programs, which are desperately needed on
Indian nations. And the 5-year limit on benefits does not provide people with
long-term healthcare,” Gonzales said.
Moreover, SB 1092 will reduce
revenue to health care facilities on Indian nations, further harming Native
American communities.
“SB
1092 will negatively impact Arizona Native American health care facilities by
reducing the amount of revenue they receive. This may result in a decreased
quality of care to all Native American children, families and the elderly. All
Arizonans should be concerned about this legislation,” said Rep. Jennifer
Benally, D-Tuba City (District 7).
Sen. Carlyle Begay, D-Ganado
(District 7), agreed that SB 1092 will affect health services and that the
consequences of the law would disproportionately burden Native
Americans.
“SB
1092 would have enormous consequences for Native Americans, as well as the
Indian Health Service and tribal and urban Indian providers from whom many
Native Americans receive health services. Placing a lifetime limit on Medicaid
eligibility and instituting a work verification requirement disproportionally
hurts Native American families,” Begay said. “It would also impair critical
preventive measures intended to lessen the effects of chronic stress and social
marginalization, which remain serious challenges in Native American
communities.”
Rep. Albert Hale, D-St.
Michaels (District 7), acknowledged moving people off government assistance and
toward self-sufficiency is an admirable goal, but not if the process leaves
people without the care they need.
“As
legislators, we sometimes fail to see or understand the unintended and often
very complex consequences of our actions. We affect the lives of every person in
Arizona. SB 1092 is an example of the legislature not acknowledging the many
consequences of its actions. Self-sufficiency for all Arizonans is an admirable
goal, but when the tools by which people move toward that goal are lacking, we
only exacerbate the problems faced by many people in this state. Without job
training and economic development programs on Indian nations, the proposed
employment requirements for AHCCCS will be impossible for many people to meet.
I am hopeful that the federal government will see these unintended consequences
and reject Arizona’s request for a waiver and thereby not breach its trust
responsibility to Native American people.”
All
five members of the Native American Caucus voted against passage of SB 1092. The
letter to Secretary Burwell can be found below.
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