Sebelius Tells Arizona Plans to Cut Medicaid Coverage Do Not Violate Health Reform - February 24, 2011

On Feb. 11, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius delivered a letter to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer responding to the Governor’s request to remove 250,000 childless adults from the states’ Medicaid rolls. The letter stated that such a reduction would be permissible under the Affordable Care Act – and not in violation of the law’s maintenance of effort (MOE) requirements – because the Arizona waiver that provided coverage to childless adults would expire Sept. 30. At that time, Sebelius stated, Arizona would not be required to renew its waiver in order to remain compliant with the MOE provisions. The Secretary is reportedly developing further guidance regarding options for states to reduce coverage while maintaining the MOE requirement. While only a handful of other states have waivers scheduled to expire in the near future, it remains to be seen how many other many states may now follow Arizona’s lead in the coming years as a way to alleviate state budgetary woes.