Arizona Supreme Court upholds state's Medicaid expansion law
The Arizona Supreme Court last week a 2013 state law expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income residents under the Affordable Care Act. Some members of the state legislature claimed that the law鈥檚 assessment on hospitals to help pay for the expansion was a tax and therefore unconstitutional because the legislation failed to pass by a two-thirds supermajority; however, the state Supreme Court disagreed and ruled it was an assessment and only required a simple majority vote. 鈥淭his is a great day for Arizona, and one we have awaited through a four-year legal fight,鈥� Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association President and CEO Greg Vigdor. 鈥淎t long last, the Arizona Supreme Court has affirmed the constitutionality of 2013 legislation that extended life-saving Medicaid coverage to more than 400,000 Arizonans in need.鈥�