With Ohio’s proposed Healthy Ohio waiver threatening the future effectiveness of expanded Medicaid, Ohio advocates are keeping a close watch on the outcome of Medicaid waivers in other states. UHCAN Ohio joined a coalition of Ohio advocacy organizations to submit comments to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Arizona’s proposed waiver, which would have similar effects to Healthy Ohio.

Arizona is the first state to request a waiver after already implementing expanded Medicaid. In both Ohio and Arizona, expanded Medicaid has successfully decreased the uninsured rate and made it possible for thousands of low-income adults to get health coverage. 630,000 Ohioans have obtained coverage due to expanded eligibility since January 2014, allowing them to obtain regular care.

Like Ohio, Arizona’s proposed waiver features premiums for all adults on Medicaid, regardless of income, potential loss of coverage for missed payments, complicated “health savings accounts,” and benefit limits. These requirements create barriers that will keep people from enrolling or cause people to lose coverage and will increase the cost of administering the program.

If Arizona’s waiver is approved by CMS, it will set a precedent that will make it more likely that Ohio’s waiver will also be approved. These waivers, if approved, will cause many low income people in Ohio and Arizona to lose health coverage. That’s why Ohio advocacy organizations are calling on CMS to reject Arizona’s proposed waiver.

In the letter, the advocates state that “The Affordable Care Act is one of the most significant legislative and policy initiatives of our lifetimes. It promises all Americans access to health care. We should protect that promise and not allow it to be eroded into a shadow of itself.  For all of these reasons, we request that [the Department of Health and Human Services] reject the Arizona application as submitted.”

Click here to read the full letter, and click here to read additional comments on Arizona’s waiver by Families USA.