| ■ Arizona Drops Children's Health Insurance Program | 2010.03.19 |
| Nearly 47,000 low-income children in Arizona will no longer have health coverage after the state became the first in the country to eliminate its Children's Health Insurance Program. The budget signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer also rolls back Medicaid coverage for childless adults, a policy change expected to eventually remove more than 310,000 people from the rolls, The New York Times reported. State leaders said they had to make the cuts to deal with a $2.6 billion projected shortfall next year. However, critics say children could suffer long-term developmental problems because of inadequate medical care, and hospital emergency rooms may be deluged by patients with few other options for health care, The Times reported. |