Judge rules against AHCCCS co-pays for childless adults

A federal judge says Arizona ’s Medicaid program should not be allowed to charge certain people co-pays for medical care. 

U.S. District Judge David Campbell found that federal officials should not have issued a waiver allowing the state’s AHCCCS plan to charge low-income childless adults a co-pay.

The ruling can’t stop AHCCCS from charging those patients, but it orders the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the waiver. It’s the second time a federal judge has ruled HHS shouldn’t have let Arizona require the co-pays.

The decision came in a case brought by advocates who argue the payments keep the very poor from medical care. They argue it actually costs the state more money because people delay treatment.