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AHCCCS News & Updates

Note: Information provided in PDF files, unless otherwise noted.

FY 2011 State Budget

  1. Seventh Special Legislative Session - NEW!

    Thu Mar 18
    On March 16, 2010, the Legislature completed its 7th Special Session to address the budget shortfall for FY 2010. Below is information regarding the impact to the AHCCCS program. AHCCCS will continue to update this section as further information becomes available.

    • KidsCare Elimination

      Effective June 15, 2010, the KidsCare program will end. KidsCare is Arizona's Children's Health Insurance Program and covers children whose families have income between 100% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The State does not have enough funds to keep paying its portion of this program. This program was funded jointly by the State and federal government under Title XXI of the Social Security Act. There are about 38,000 children currently enrolled in the program.

      Loss of KidsCare or AHCCCS Health Insurance is now a qualifying event for an employer's group health plan. See the Federal Activities page for more information.

      AHCCCS has submitted the following notice to CMS:

    • Prop 204 Expansion Population Scale Back

      The Proposition 204 population will be fully funded through December 2010. Effective January 1, 2011, AHCCCS will not have sufficient funding to continue coverage for the Proposition 204 population at current levels. The FY 2010 enacted budget authorizes AHCCCS to define eligibility in accordance with available funding levels.

      Please note, in the event Congress continues federal funding to states as authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, AHCCCS will have sufficient monies to fund the population through June 30, 2011. Additional information will be posted as it is available.

    • Acute Care Adult Benefit Reduction

      The FY 2010 enacted budget authorizes AHCCCS to implement several changes to the acute care adult benefit package. As a result, AHCCCS will review and make necessary changes to its State Plan and applicable policies. Additional information will be made available as further details emerge. Below is a link to the 2009 Benefit Review AHCCCS conducted.

    • Provider Rates

      The FY 2010 enacted budget authorizes AHCCCS to reduce provider rates (in addition to previous reductions already implemented) up to 5% to meet its budget requirements. In addition, the budget authorizes AHCCCS to reduce provider rates an additional 10% in the event the sales tax increase proposal is not passed by voters on May 18, 2010. Additional information will be available as it is received.

  2. Governor's Budget Proposal
    • Prop 204 Rollback

      Fri Feb 12
      As a result of Arizona's fiscal crisis, the Executive Budget includes the recommendation to roll back the Prop 204 expansion. More information regarding Prop 204 funding and population growth over time is provided below:

    • AHCCCS Analysis of Executive Budget Recommendation

      Tue Feb 9
      AHCCCS has developed a summary of the FY 2011 Executive Budget Recommendation that includes both General Fund and Total Fund impacts.

      FY 2011 Executive Budget Recommendation Summary [10KB]

    • FY2011 Budget Recommendation

      Mon Jan 18
      On January 15, 2010, Governor Brewer presented the Arizona Legislature her recommendations to balance the State's General Fund budgets for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011. Information as it relates to the AHCCCS program can be found beginning on page 14 of the "State Agency Budgets FY 2011" document on the Governor's website http://www.azgovernor.gov/Budget2011.asp.

  3. AHCCCS Budget Request

    Tue Sep 1
    On September 1, 2009, AHCCCS submitted its FY 2011 budget request to the Governor. The following documents provide a summary of the request:

FPL Guidelines for 2010 Not Yet Announced

Tue Mar 16
On January 22, 2010, the Federal register published a notice to advise that the 2009 poverty guidelines will remain in effect until updated 2010 poverty guidelines are published. To date, the 2010 poverty guidelines have not been published. AHCCCS will post information as soon as it becomes available. A copy of the Federal Register notice is provided below:

Federal Register Notice - 1/22/10 [51KB]


Health Care Provider Assessments

  1. Provider Tax Calculator

    Fri Feb 12
    AHCCCS has developed an interactive tool to provide additional information on the potential impact regarding Provider Tax issues. This is only one model to estimate the impact of one type of provider tax. There is a wide variety of different possible models and forms a provider tax could take. This model is intended to serve for discussion purposes and does not preclude a discussion of other forms of provider taxes or other models. The Introductory memo includes an overview, definitions, and instructions to use the tool. AHCCCS does not take a position on these issues nor have any of these items been included in the Executive Budget. Feedback from the hospital community is welcomed.


  2. Update on Budget Neutrality Estimates

    Fri Jan 22
    AHCCCS has updated the Budget Neutrality estimates originally provided in the Provider Assessment report to the Legislature. See the attached memo from Director Betlach and the updated Budget Neutrality estimates.


  3. Report on Health Care Provider Assessments

    Fri Nov 6
    Arizona Laws 2009, Third Special Session, Chapter 10, Section 29, requires AHCCCS to review and report on health care provider assessments. Attached is the report submitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Governor on November 6, 2009.

    Health Care Provider Assessments Report [PDF, 1.46MB]

H1N1 (Swine Flu)

In an effort to reduce the burden of communications coming into your office, AHCCCS Contractors have agreed to provide a letter to their in network primary care providers that explains where to obtain information related to H1N1 Novel Influenza and vaccine as well as the correct coding and billing information for administration of H1N1 Novel influenza vaccine.

Your office can expect to continue receiving updates from other state agencies and associations for both seasonal and H1N1 influenza. Each AHCCCS Contractor has agreed to keep their websites updated with at least the latest information from Maricopa County, ADHS, VFC and TAPI. The Arizona influenza information campaign is called Stop The Spread. Member/patient information that can be printed for use in your office can be found at the following websites:

Providers can also access information and materials from the following website:

FY 2010 State Budget

  1. Budget Reduction Summary

    AHCCCS has updated the summary of the budget reductions and rate freezes to reflect the recent changes as a result of the 5th Special Session and fund transfers that have occurred since FY 2008. As detailed in the document, the Medicaid program has had over $743 million in reductions when all items identified to date are fully annualized. This is not a cumulative number; it simply means these policy changes have reduced the overall AHCCCS budget by $743 million.

    The document details reductions not only contained within the AHCCCS budget but also Medicaid reductions within the Department of Economic Security for the Developmentally Disabled program and the Department of Health Services for Behavioral Health Services.

    Cumulative Budget Reduction Summary [12KB]

  2. Capitation Rate Changes

    On September 30, 2009, AHCCCS requested that the Joint Legislative Budget Committee review the proposed capitation rates for contract year ending 2010 as required by the General Appropriations Act. In total, the capitation rates will experience a decrease of -3.0% for acute care and -.4% for ALTCS. The budget assumed an overall rate increase 1.5%. With the decrease the rates result in an estimated savings of -$153 million of which approximately -$37 million is State Match.

    AHCCCS Letter to JLBC [314KB]

  3. AHCCCS Potential Impact of a 15% Budget Reduction

    On September 18th, the Governor's Deputy Chief of Staff of Finance and Director of OSPB, Eileen Klein, made the attached request to state agencies.

    The memo requests data from each state agency describing the ramifications and impacts of 15% reductions to their operations should the Legislature look predominately at cuts to close Arizona's remaining state budget deficit of $1.5 billion for FY 2010. Please note that this is a data collection tool, and should not be construed as a proposed budget solution by OSPB or Governor Brewer.

    On October 9th, AHCCCS submitted the attached response of the potential impact of implementing a 15% reduction. The AHCCCS reduction is an adjusted 15% of discretionary or optional state funded programs, the elimination of which would not jeopardize federal stimulus dollars or voter protected programs.

  4. Review of the Acute Care Adult Benefit Package

    As a result of FY 2010 reductions, AHCCCS is reviewing and making changes to medically necessary criteria and policy. For updates on recent policy changes, go to the AHCCCS Medical Policy Manual (AMPM). AHCCCS continues to review the acute care adult benefit package to address how cost savings can be achieved in light of the continued budget shortfall and growth in the Medicaid population. Additional information will be made available as further details emerge.

For information about previous State legislative activities, please visit the State Legislative and Budget Activities page.

For information about Federal activities, including health care reform, please visit the Federal Activities page.