PHOENIX – Governor Jan Brewer today was joined at the Arizona State Capitol by approximately 200 doctors, family physicians, nurses and other health care professionals who’ve endorsed the Governor’s Medicaid Restoration Plan. These health professionals, coming from across Arizona, know how important this issue is to Arizona families.
“Our health care system is in crisis due to
the rising number of our fellow Arizonans who are without health insurance,”
said Governor Brewer. “The health professionals standing with me today see the
human toll of this crisis every day. Families are damaged, livelihoods
threatened and hospitals pushed to the brink.
There is also a fiscal impact as
the costs of uncompensated care result in a Hidden Health Care Tax of nearly
$2,000 for the average Arizona family. Doctors and nurses know my Medicaid
Restoration Plan is the conservative, pragmatic approach to providing
cost-effective care to Arizonans most in need – while both protecting our
hospitals and reducing the strain on our State budget.”
With the Governor’s proposal, the State of
Arizona will expand just slightly beyond what voters have already mandated. This
will allow the State to leverage $1.6 billion from the federal government in
the first year alone – funding that will bolster rural and safety-net hospitals,
provide care to low-income Arizonans and ease the burden of Medicaid spending on
the State budget. In fact, under the Governor’s Medicaid Restoration Plan,
there is no cost to the State General Fund.
The Governor’s growing coalition of
supporters includes more than 100 health care, business, faith, public policy
and other groups have already endorsed her Medicaid Restoration
Plan.
“On behalf of Arizona’s committed and
passionate pediatric community serving children throughout our state, we support
our Governor in her efforts to restore Medicaid in our state, and we urge our
lawmakers to swiftly do the same so that we can make smart investments in our
health and well-being today that will create a stronger state tomorrow,” said
Dr. Delphis Richardson, a Tempe pediatrician and Vice President of the Board of
Directors for the Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of
Pediatrics.
“AHCCCS is not a ‘red issue’ or a ‘blue
issue’ to doctors. It is a patient care, humanitarian issue,” said Dr. Bill
Thrift, a Prescott family physician of nearly 30 years. “Restoring AHCCCS is
just the right thing to do for Arizonans, for our economy, and for the
betterment of people who will not be able to afford those critical services they
need.”
“I support the Governor’s initiative not
just for the virtually undeniable economic benefits, but – more importantly –
for the impact that this will have on the health of our patients and our
communities,” said Dr. Thomas McWilliams, President of the Arizona Osteopathic
Medical Association.
“Lack of insurance coverage leads people to
use urgent care services that, while they are safe, are not intended to provide
long-term health care management of the kind that has been demonstrated to
improve health outcomes,” said Denise Link, a Nurse Practitioner of 33 years and
the Director of a Nurse Practitioner-managed health clinic in central Phoenix.
“They are receiving less effective health care than those that are insured, and
both the patients and society ultimately pay the price.”
For more information on the Governor’s Medicaid
Restoration Plan, visit: azgovernor.gov/Medicaid.asp or RestoringArizona.com
.
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