Sebelius: No further study needed for Arizona Medicaid cuts

Arizona can enact Medicaid enrollment reductions as planned despite a progressive Democrat’s recent request to scrutinize the cuts, the Obama administration’s top health official said Friday.

Last week, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to closely study the Health and Human Services Department’s endorsement of a plan that would let the cash-strapped Arizona to drop as many as 280,000 people from its Medicaid rolls. The state had been seeking a waiver for a healthcare reform requirement to maintain Medicaid eligibility standards until 2014, but HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius informed the state last month it could allow the cuts without special permission because the program was already operating on a waiver that expires Sept. 30.

Grijalva, co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said Sebelius’s advice amounted to federal guidance that should be open to a 90-day comment period, and he asked HHS to hold a public hearing in the state and prepare a fiscal analysis on the impact of dropping a quarter-million people from Medicaid rolls.

But Sebelius shot down the request Friday in testimony before the House Appropriations committee overseeing HHS.

“It isn’t guidance, it’s just the law,” Sebelius said.

Arizona Republican Rep. Jeff Flake asked Sebelius about the Grijalva request, saying he was concerned that added federal scrutiny could delay Arizona’s ability to reduce Medicaid enrollment.

Most states are seeking flexibility from the federal government to make significant cuts in their Medicaid programs as they grapple with massive budget shortfalls. In February, HHS offered measures that states could take without making major enrollment cuts.