Arizona Providers Warn Medicaid Work Requirements Will Flood ERs
At a virtual roundtable, Tucson-area health providers and patients warned that federal Medicaid cuts and new work requirements taking effect in 2027 could strip coverage from hundreds of thousands of Arizonans enrolled in AHCCCS, the state's Medicaid program. Pediatrician Eve Shapiro and ICU nurse Maria Manzanarez argued that losing coverage will push people to delay care until conditions become emergencies, straining hospitals already laying off staff in anticipation of funding losses. A disabled Tucson resident, Garrett Newell, described fearing the loss of AHCCCS coverage for specialists and therapy he relies on. Rep. Adelita Grijalva tied the cuts to the federal reconciliation law passed last year and said Democrats would seek to reverse them if they win control of Congress in the November midterms.