Advocates and families in Arizona are deeply concerned about proposed federal funding cuts to Medicaid and their impact on the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), the state’s Medicaid program that provides essential coverage for low-income children, seniors, people with disabilities and families.
Enrique Davis-Mazlum, Arizona state director of UnidosUS, a Modern Medicaid Alliance partner, recently detailed the devastating effects Medicaid cuts would have on families like Alicia Jefferson and her 1-year-old son who has severe asthma.
More details on the harmful consequences that these potential cuts would have on patients across Arizona are outlined below:
- “Alicia Jefferson knows what’s at stake in the federal budget fight happening in our nation’s capital. Her 1-year-old son has severe asthma, and the $1,000-a-month cost of his medications is more than she can manage without the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona’s health care program for low-income children, seniors, people with disabilities and families.”
- “Without AHCCCS, her family’s health and financial stability would collapse.”
- “Across Arizona, too many families face similar realities. But instead of expanding support, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget bill on May 22 that would gut the very programs that keep families afloat.”
- “Between AHCCCS and private insurance through healthcare.gov, the bill would strip health coverage from 300,000 Arizonans, leaving many with chronic conditions like diabetes and asthma without care. These proposed cuts are not just line items — they are lifelines.”
- “At a recent UnidosUS roundtable in Scottsdale, more than 40 local leaders shared a clear message: cuts to AHCCCS would deepen homelessness, push families into crisis and dismantle Arizona’s fragile mental health infrastructure.”
- “Programs like AHCCCS are the single largest payer of mental health services, and cuts would undermine the care families rely on during a worsening crisis.”
- “And the harm doesn’t stop with health care. More than 700,000 children in Arizona rely on AHCCCS for health care, SNAP for food or both. More than half of these children are Latino.”
- “In Phoenix alone, half of all the city’s children depend on these programs. More than 60,000 Arizona veterans — including 17,000 with service-connected disabilities — rely on AHCCCS or SNAP.”
- “We urge every Arizonan to learn the facts and let their elected officials know how these programs protect lives. These programs saved Alicia’s son and support hundreds of thousands of Arizonans every day.”
Congress must oppose any cuts to the Medicaid program that impact access to essential health care coverage for vulnerable populations in Arizona and across the country.
For more information on Medicaid’s vital role, visit https://modernmedicaid.org.