AZ'S FRAGILE ECONOMY WILL BE HURT BY MEDICAID CUTS

posted by Michael Chihak

Arizona, more so than many states, relies on its vast Medicaid program as a bolster to the economy, in that the health insurance program provides coverage for workers in numerous small businesses, says an executive with Banner Health.

Dennis Dahlen, senior vice president and CFO of the state's largest health-care system, said in an interview for Friday's Arizona Week that the cuts Gov. Jan Brewer proposes in Medicaid will contribute to the "economic malaise the state is facing."

He said Banner might have to lay off employees and will consolidate services plus put off capital projects if the cuts go through.

Dahlen also said that the quality of health care will decline for many in the state, including those using Banner's 13 hospitals because of service consolidations and people losing primary-care physicians and thus having to rely on emergency rooms for care.

Medicaid, or as it is known in Arizona, ACCCHS, is a good deal for the state because it means Arizonans get $7 or so in federal money for every $2 or $3 in state-generated money, Dahlen said. Thus, he said, cutting state Medicaid funding as the governor and Republican legislators have proposed would have a "negative multiplier" of up to $4 in lost federal money for every $1 or so in cut state money.

Dahlen's interview will be part of Friday's Arizona Week on Medicaid cuts in the state, at 8:30 p.m. MST on KUAT-TV in Tucson and 10:30 p.m. MST on KAET-TV in Phoenix. It also may be viewed online at azweek.com.