Arizona Supreme Court rejects GOP lawmakers' suit to overturn state's Medicaid expansion
Source: The Arizona Republic.
Ken Alltucker, The Republic | azcentral.com Published 1:03 p.m. MT Nov. 17, 2017 | Updated 1:56 p.m. MT Nov. 17, 2017
The Arizona Supreme Court on Friday in an unanimous decision rejected a bid from a group of 36 current and former Republican lawmakers to overturn the state's Medicaid expansion.
The lawmakers argued that a hospital assessment used to pay the state's portion of the Medicaid expansion is a tax that required a two-thirds legislative majority to enact. The 2013 Legislature narrowly approved the assessment.
However, the state's high court rejected that claim, upholding a lower court's ruling.
The GOP lawmakers' challenge could have jeopardized health care for about 400,000 low-income Arizonans who gained insurance coverage under the Medicaid expansion.
Read more: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2017/11/17/arizona-supreme-court-rejects-gop-lawmakers-suit-overturn-states-medicaid-expansion/874694001/