Health + Medicine

AHCCCS has decided to press on with plans to transition the health plans of thousands of elderly and physically disabled members to new ones. The decision means the agency is disregarding a judge’s recommendation that it cancel the new contracts and start the process over again after it was determined their process was flawed.

A 3-year-old girl died after being left in a vehicle in Buckeye on Sunday. She is the third child known to have died in a hot car in Arizona this summer.

Nearly 10% of Americans 60 and older have used marijuana, according to data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health. Many use marijuana to help with pain or aid sleep. And the fact that marijuana is legal in several states, including Arizona, makes it all the more accessible.

The Bridge Access Program, which provided free COVID-19 vaccines to uninsured adults, has now ended. That could leave them paying well over $100 just as new boosters have become available.

Arizona is facing a workforce shortage in the long-term care sector. In fact, Arizona can expect to see around 190,000 direct-care job openings through 2030. The work is difficult and the pay is relatively low. It’s why one organization launched a program to recruit, train and retain workers. Now, it has issued its final report.

Fewer people appear to have died from heat in Maricopa County this year compared to last. If the numbers are confirmed, it would be the first year-over-year drop in heat-related deaths in a decade.

Last month, a judge determined that AHCCCS — Arizona’s version of Medicaid — had improperly issued contracts to health care companies that provide long-term care services to 26,000 older adults and people with physical disabilities. AHCCCS has until early next week to decide what it will do, leaving some families worried and uncertain.

Organ donation rates are typically low among Hispanic patients. That’s why a Phoenix hospital is urging Hispanic residents to become donors.

While between 10,000 and 20,000 cases are reported to the CDC every year, a vaccine for Valley fever is potentially getting closer to becoming a reality.

State health officials are echoing guidance from the CDC in light of what it says is the largest outbreak of Listeria since 2011. Almost 60 people have been sickened, including one in Arizona.