More than 2 million Arizonans rely on AHCCCS, the state's version of Medicaid, for their health care. Now lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are considering deep cuts to that program.
Sen. Mark Kelly brought back to his colleagues stories of Arizonans who rely on that aid.
After hosting town halls across Arizona last week, Kelly shared in a floor speech the stories he heard from Arizonans who rely on AHCCCS, including that of Quianna Brown, the mom of a 10-year-old girl with disabilities stemming from a rare form of diabetes.
“She said, 'would you mind telling your colleagues in Washington that when they’re burning down this house, there are people still inside? My kid is still inside,'” Kelly told them.
Kelly called on lawmakers to listen to their constituents.
“It’s easy to lose track of who will bear the consequences of these decisions. Hard-working families, kids, and seniors in Arizona and across the entire country,” he said.
Potential cuts will hurt AZ economy
A recent report from the Commonwealth Fund and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health looked at what could happen if Congress makes cuts to these programs.
Leighton Ku, is a professor of health policy and management at George Washington University. He’s also the lead author of the study.
“What we found when we did our analysis was for Arizona, the implications are quite dire. The headline should be that in the next year, as many as 27,000 jobs might be lost in Arizona because of this," Ku said.
Ku says those job losses would be in health care and food-related sectors. The report looked at all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
At the local level
Meanwhile, state Republican lawmakers advanced a bill that would weed out fraud in the SNAP program. Democrats, including House minority leader Oscar de los Santos, disagree.
“The benefits in SNAP are 100% federally funded. So we’re going to be sending $66 million of Arizona tax payer money every single year and save zero dollars," de los Santos said.
