Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer signs bill to take 300K off Medicaid rolls

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Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer signed an emergency bill Friday allowing the cash-short state to seek a federal waiver to temporarily remove nearly 300,000 people from its Medicaid rolls in the first such request by a state.

If granted by the administration of President Barack Obama, the waiver would let the state scale back coverage to near that of most other states and save $541.5 million, making it the single biggest element in Brewer's plan to eliminate a projected $1.1 billion shortfall in the next state budget.

Brewer said Medicaid's explosive growth is unsustainable and threatens to consume the core functions of state government.

The Arizona House and Senate approved the authorization requested by Brewer on Thursday amid questions about whether the waiver request would be approved by the Obama administration, and if the legislation would survive an anticipated court challenge.

The waiver issue could set the stage for yet another health care battle between the federal government and states.

Arizona is already among states participating in a legal challenge to the federal health care overhaul. Several Republican legislators said the waiver would allow the state to chart its own course on health care and budgeting.

Arizona, which has seen its revenue drop by a third due to the recession and the collapse of the homebuilding industry, also reduced Medicaid coverage for transplants on Oct. 1.

Two people who were eligible for transplants before coverage ended for some procedures have since died, with hospital officials attributing one to the coverage change.
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http://hosted2.ap.org/FLJAJ/c9d240e...id Waiver/id-b11f3527302e48459bb8b963ab4c5891

I guess we are finally having those death panels
 
DEATH PANELS DEATH PANELS!!!1111

I only wish that democrats were as good at smear campaigns as republicans. I hate it all, but I'm sick of them just taking all the BS on the chin and never fighting back.
 
This phrase piqued my curiosity:

the waiver would let the state scale back coverage to near that of most other states
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So their medicare program is like hella better than other states? Or more expensive because there are old people there? Or something else?
 
the waiver would let the state scale back coverage to near that of most other states
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I'm curious about this statement. Does this mean that Arizona currently covers more types of people? Or that they're paying out more in general?

*edit* Myke beat me to it...
 
I can't find anything that talks about the generosity of Arizona's implementation of Medicaid vs other states. Talk about how this change makes it worse than most (if not all) other states consistently appears though. Apparently prosthetic limbs and life saving transplants are covered by just about everybody else but will be or are cut already.
 
Death panels are actually a good idea. The name is just unfortunate. However, no one wants to face the reality that health care does need to be rationed if we truly want to have costs under control.
 
[quote name='dopa345']Death panels are actually a good idea. The name is just unfortunate. However, no one wants to face the reality that health care does need to be rationed if we truly want to have costs under control.[/QUOTE]

The actual names are actuaries and accountants. They don't have panels, just stamps that say "Claim Denied."
I'm just surprised that the notion of death panels was able to be sold as though it would be a new thing if the govt took over health insurance. God damn, people are really fucking stupid sometimes.
 
[quote name='nasum']The actual names are actuaries and accountants. They don't have panels, just stamps that say "Claim Denied."
I'm just surprised that the notion of death panels was able to be sold as though it would be a new thing if the govt took over health insurance. God damn, people are really fucking stupid sometimes.[/QUOTE]

Accountants and actuaries are now claim processors?
 
That's simplified, but actuaries do asses risk, you know that already of course.

They also make really good money if you can stand knowing you may have someone's life in your hands.
 
I would think that the claim processors are more drones and the real decisions are made higher up, but semantics...
 
[quote name='Clak']That's simplified, but actuaries do asses risk, you know that already of course.

They also make really good money if you can stand knowing you may have someone's life in your hands.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but it really has to do more with the higher-ups who make the decisions. Actuaries just crunch numbers.
 
if nothing else it's probably just a ploy to not have to pay for the healthcare of people who get shot in the head... that's gotta get expensive after awhile
 
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