WHY ARIZONA NEEDS THE STIMULUS BILL

Leaving aside humanitarian concerns, Arizona needs the extra Medicaid money from the Federal government to avoid major cuts in health care funding. Because of the collapse of the housing market, the state is short of revenue and the hospitals will have to cut staff unless they get offsetting funding from the Feds.

Hospitals brace for loss of funds to care for poor
By Stephanie Innes
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 01.30.2009

Legislative proposals call for pulling $8.9 million in "disproportionate share" money, which refers to money the state gives to hospitals with a higher-than-average number of patients who are either uninsured or enrolled in the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's form of Medicaid.

Since that money comes with matching funds from the federal government, the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association says the proposed cuts would amount to a loss of $26 million to the state's so-called "safety net" hospitals, which provide a significant level of care to low-income, uninsured and vulnerable populations.

The chief financial officer at University Medical Center in Tucson says the cumulative effect of existing and proposed cuts to hospital health care in Arizona would be "devastating" to the city's only Level One Trauma Center, which has one of the largest loads of AHCCCS patients in the state.

About 35 percent of UMC's patient volume are AHCCCS patients, and another 5 percent have no insurance at all. Last year the hospital received $1.5 million in disproportionate share funding.

"We're fighting very hard. We don't want to cut staff," said Kevin Burns, UMC's chief financial officer.

The hospital projects a 10 to 15 percent increase in AHCCCS patients over the next year or so.

THIS is what the bill would do:

Relief Seen for Jobless and States in Health Care Plan
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: January 27, 2009
NY Times

Of the $127 billion cost, the Congressional Budget Office said, $87 billion would be used to increase the federal share of Medicaid, $29 billion would subsidize private insurance and $11 billion would finance Medicaid for unemployed workers who could not otherwise qualify.