Arizona appeals court says Medicaid expansion law is constitutional

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The Arizona Court of Appeals has upheld the constitutionality of a law passed in 2013 expanding the state’s Medicaid program.

The court said the law imposed an assessment that is exempt from the requirement that any by lawmakers increasing state revenues, such a tax hike, must get a two-thirds vote in the Legislature.

The health care law was approved by a simple majority.

At issue is the assessment on hospitals, which the state uses to draw down matching federal funds.

The law has allowed Arizona to expand eligibility to residents who earn between 100 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

In 2015, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge also upheld the law, ruling that the hospital assessment that funds the program is not subject to Arizona Constitution’s supermajority provision.

The case was brought by 36 Republican legislators who voted against the plan.

The appeals court said the hospital assessment has the characteristics of an assessment, not a tax, and arguments to the contrary missed the mark.

Read more at AZ Capitol Times

Corrie O'Connor