Download a printable copy of Gov. Jan Brewer's plan to expand Arizona's Medicaid program under the national health care overhaul.
PHOENIX (AP) -
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is citing her staunch pro-life stance as a major reason she's backing an expansion of Medicaid to about 300,000 low-income Arizonans.
Brewer says expanding the insurance to more people will save lives. Her comments came Tuesday as she released draft language of a bill authorizing the expansion. The bill creates a hospital bed tax to help pay the state's costs that she's calling an 'assessment." By not calling the hospital assessment a tax she avoids the needs for a 2/3 vote in the House and Senate.
The bill's release comes two months after Brewer announced she backed an expansion. It would tap $1.6 billion in new federal funding by assessing hospitals about $250 million a year to pay for the state's share.
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