BUSINESS HEALTHCARE SERVICES GUIDE 2017
Medicaid and Why It Matters
It’s beginning to feel a lot like 2013. That was the year the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA) and a coalition of health, business, faith and other interests joined forces with then-Gov. Jan Brewer for the successful extension of our state’s Medicaid umbrella. At the time, hundreds of thousands of Arizona’s working poor were uninsured — in many cases, seeking care in hospital emergency rooms as their last and only option. Arizona hospitals teetered under the weight of providing more than $930 million worth of uncompensated care that year alone. More than three years later, the verdict is in: Restoring Medicaid in Arizona has been an unqualified success. More of our neighbors have access to quality health services. Uncompensated care in our hospitals is down 60 percent. And our economy has benefited from an influx of hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal treasury — resulting in a multi-billion-dollar jolt in economic impact. Unfortunately, our progress is in doubt once more. Federal healthcare reforms — namely, the American Health Care Act — would cut $880 billion from Medicaid between now and 2026. Also, beginning in 2020, the proposal would eliminate federal matching dollars that help states pay for Medicaid coverage of individuals earning 100 to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. That almost certainly would mean an enrollment freeze. Arizona has been through this before. During the depths of the Great Recession, our state froze Medicaid enrollment of childless adults. Approximately 160,000 people fell off the Medicaid rolls over the course of about 18 months between mid-2011 and the end of 2013. This led to the aforementioned spike in ER visits and uncompensated care, not to mention untold personal tragedy as individuals and families lost coverage. We all have a stake in seeing this not repeated. Remember: When patients have no coverage, the costs of their care end up being borne by all of us in the form of higher premiums. The Affordable Care Act is not perfect. Reforms are needed. But Congress and the President should heed history and Arizona’s lessons before hastily enacting changes that destabilize Medicaid. This is a critical time for healthcare in our country. Accurate information is essential. We thank In Business Magazine for this Healthcare Services Guide, a vital reader service for business owners and executives.
Greg Vigdor has served as the president and CEO of the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association since 2013. Over more than 35 years in healthcare, he has been nationally recognized for advancing health through policy leadership. Evidence of his work in Arizona includes the passage of Medicaid Restoration and being laser-focused on quality care improvement efforts and activities supporting AzHHA’s vision of making Arizona the Healthiest State in the Nation.
Sincerely,
Greg Vigdor President and CEO Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association
PRESENTS
2017
Business Healthcare Services Guide Associations & Government Employee Benefits Consultants Dental Insurance Individual & Group Health Insurance Hospitals Urgent Care Workplace Bundled Health Programs Workplace Wellness Workplace Ergonomics
About this Guide With healthcare front and foremost on the mind of many business owners and executives, and recognizing that healthcare and wellness programs involve the whole community working together, the editorial staff of In Business Magazine has compiled the 2017 Business Healthcare Services Guide. Presented on the following pages are listings of companies in the healthcare industry, organized by category.
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