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Arizona Medicaid Expansion Case Goes To State Supreme Court

The Arizona Supreme Court will decide whether conservative Republicans in the state Legislature can challenge Gov. Jan Brewer’s expansion of Medicaid coverage for low-income Arizonans.

The court said it will consider the Governor’s appeal of an appellate court’s decision that revived the suit the lawmakers filed last year.

That court said lawmakers had the right to sue over their claim that a hospital assessment that funds the expansion is a tax and a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, not just a majority, was needed to approve it.

The expansion was based on President Barack Obama’s federal health care law. Brewer said she applauds the high court’s decision to hear the case, saying it brings the state a step closer to ending what she calls the baseless lawsuit.

The expansion of Medicaid allowed more than 276,000 state residents to get coverage under Arizona’s Medicaid alternative, AHCCCS.