Ducey’s concerns with Obamacare replacement begin, end with Medicaid

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s concerns with a Senate health care bill that would repeal and eventually replace Obamacare begin and end with the state’s Medicaid system.

“There are still some big issues that impact Arizona that the governor wants addressed,” Ducey’s spokesman Daniel Scarpinato exclusively told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

Scarpinato said Ducey’s office had been working closely with U.S. Sen. John McCain to attach three amendments to the bill, which McCain introduced in the Senate on Wednesday.

“It’s important that we get it (health care reform) right and it’s done in a way that’s actually going to expand health care options for Arizonans,” Scarpinato said.

To make it easier to digest the amendments, we broke them down below:

Pre-Obamacare Medicaid expansion

In 2000, Arizona passed Proposition 204 that expanded Medicaid to all adults with income up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level.

In a statement, McCain’s office said proposals to cut funding for early Medicaid expansion states could cost Arizona between $356 million and $480 million by 2024.

Scaprinato said the proposed cuts would be unfair to the people of Arizona.

“Don’t disproportionately punish Arizona for decisions that were made decades ago,” he said.

The amendment would ensure Arizona would not be hit by the cuts.

Extend Medicaid expansion phase-out to 10 years

Scarpinato said Arizona would need more time to adjust to the Senate health care bill — should it become law — which is why McCain’s amendment would phase Medicaid expansion dollars down over 10 years.

“We’d like to see the transition extended so that the rug isn’t pulled out from under Arizonans, similar, frankly, to the way it was done with Obamcare where people lost the insurance that they liked,” he said.

McCain’s statement said the Senate health care bill would leave states to pick up the tab during the transition without time to prepare.

According to McCain’s statement, Ducey said Arizona would “not have the budget capacity needed to continue providing coverage to Medicaid recipients if federal matching funds to states are drastically reduced in such a short period of time.”

Change the growth rate for Medicaid

Scarpinato said Arizona operates one of the most effective Medicaid programs in the country, but the Senate health bill would punish — not reward — the state for saving taxpayers money.

“The federal government has to pay less to our state because we do a good job,” he said. “We don’t spend as much as some of these big-spending, liberal states that spend money like it’s going out of style. We’re actually saving taxpayers – both in Arizona and at the federal level – money.”

Scarpinato said the health bill locks rates in place and that would reward states that spend more.

“If we spent what they spent in Connecticut, for instance, per patient, we would be getting $8 billion more per year,” he said.

McCain’s amendment would adjust the growth rate for inflation.

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