Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Mark H. Brain has ruled in favor of the state in the lawsuit over whether state lawmakers are obligated to fund the state’s AHCCCS program to provide health care for low-income Arizonans.
As we’ve reported before, attorney Tim Hogan of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, had sued the state, saying that cutbacks in coverage for adults below the poverty line were illegal because the program had been expanded by voters, so it was subject to the provisions of the Voter Protection Act.
But Brain said that the law does not require the Legislature to fund the entire program. Brain’s central takeaway:
The Legislature does not have an enforceable duty to fund Proposition 204, and the scope (and limits) of defendent Belach’s duty is to continue to ensure that his agency is providing healthcare to the extent possible under Proposition 204 within the limits of the funding provided to him.
Dr. Eve Shapiro, who was one of the original supporters of Prop 204, tells The Range that Hogan will appeal.
Here’s the ruling: Ruling_8-10-11.pdf
This article appears in Aug 4-10, 2011.
I would certainly expect Hogan to appeal, very soon.
so sad – just like Gov. Brewers other ‘cost saving’ measures this one is going to end up costing us all a lot of money.
The sickest thing about this is it no longer covers the homeless … unless you have a kid. so let’s get busy making them homeless babies.
welcome to austerity America and the awesome power of Republican math. Who does she ultimately think is going to pay for this? Will the homeless just stop using modern medicine or maybe she thinks they’ll all get jobs or maybe they’ll just die and leave us alone? Whatever her plan is – it sucks!