| After spending months declaring he “cannot – and will not – support legislation that reduces Medicaid benefits,” vulnerable Republican Juan Ciscomani cast a decisive vote last week to enact the largest cuts to Medicaid in history.
Experts agree Ciscomani’s YES vote could kick more than 342,000 Arizonans off their health care, force hundreds of rural hospitals to close, and hike health care costs for all families – regardless of their insurance.
Ciscomani has since said he’s “proud to support” the bill – despite bashing it just days before the vote for “threaten[ing] access to coverage” and “jeopardiz[ing] the stability of our hospitals and providers.”
DCCC Spokesperson Lindsay Reilly:
“Arizonans can’t trust a word Juan Ciscomani says.”
See for yourself…
13 News: How budget bill could impact healthcare systems in southern Arizona
- Officials in Arizona are preparing for what they are calling a weaker healthcare system moving forward.
- Local hospitals will have to operate at negative 6.4 percent operating margins… forcing healthcare systems to make tough decisions on what services they provide.
- “Some of the first programs to go are OB/GYN services, behavioral health care services,” Alameddin said, “Maybe reducing staff.”
- The cuts could be even more impactful for rural hospitals, as they usually operate on a lower profit margin than bigger districts. Alameddin said it will have a larger effect on those who rely on that care and how far they may have to travel to get care now.
- Many will lose coverage not because of eligibility but for technical issues.
- It will cause more people to be uninsured, which will lead to more people using the hospital as their primary care destination and therefore create more crowded waiting rooms.
- Kuntz says this will also raise premiums across all insurance coverages as advocates emphasize the widespread impact this will have in Arizona.
- “By keeping (patients) in a primary care system, we lower the cost of care for everyone,” Kuntz said.
- Rep. Juan Ciscomani voted “yes” on the funding bill.
- Freeman, as a parent to a disabled child, said he’s disappointed with Ciscomani’s vote. As one of Ciscomani’s constituents, Freeman said he immediately called the representative’s office to express his frustration.
- In a response to 13 News reporter Raya Torres’ question about what he would like the congressman to know, Freeman replied, “We’re watching, and there are people across the state that realize what he did and what he said, and we’re going to remember that. We’re going to make sure the voters in Arizona remember that.”
- Newell wanted to make his voice heard and speak on behalf of people with disabilities, so he took a trip to Washington D.C. to speak with Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz., who represents Pima County, but ended up being disappointed.
- “I met his staffers specifically. They very much dismissed, like, our concerns when it comes to Medicaid cuts and all that, being very combative with us,” Newell said.
- He said he’s frustrated with Ciscomani for voting for the Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- “Your unwillingness to fight is annoying as hell as well as deeply, deeply, deeply, angers me,” Newell said.
- Newell says without Medicaid, the multiple surgeries he has received wouldn’t have been possible.
- “It’s a bill I’m proud to support,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Tucson Republican, said after the vote.
- The bill cuts federal Medicaid spending by $930 billion. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates it will push 12 million people off Medicaid. Other analysts expect it to force many rural health care facilities to close.
- Just last week, Ciscomani was one of 16 Republicans who penned a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, warning that the Senate version — the one the House finalized without changes — slashed Medicaid too deeply.
- “Protecting Medicaid is essential for the vulnerable constituents we were elected to represent. Therefore we cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage or jeopardizes the stability of our hospitals and providers,” they wrote.
- New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader, called out Ciscomani as he read the letter during a marathon 8 hour, 44 minute floor speech.
- If they felt so strongly, he said, ”This should be a ‘hell no’ vote” for them.
- At one point, [Jeffries] read a letter from one of Ciscomani’s constituents, Victoria Fuller from Sierra Vista.
- “Slashing Medicaid will have especially dire consequences for rural communities like ours, forcing hospitals to close,” Jeffries read from her letter. “Health resources are already slim in our area. … President Trump is causing enormous stress and hardship for families like mine.”
- [Ciscomani] joined in lockstep with nearly all Republican members of Congress in approving Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” measure that cuts taxes on the rich and slashes spending for many federal programs.
- The legislation would cut spending on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program by more than a trillion dollars, leading to an additional 11.8 million Americans going without health insurance.
- The legislation reduces the SNAP food assistance program by hundreds of billions of dollars and phases out renewable energy tax credits.
- CBO estimated the legislation would add $3.3 trillion to the nation’s deficit over the next 10 years.
- The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association predicted this week that the legislation would cost hospitals $6 billion over the next seven years and more than half of the state’s hospitals could end up operating in the red.
- Trump’s budget policy includes nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.
- Despite calling to maintain Medicaid access… Juan Ciscomani voted in favor of the bill.
- The congressman notes in his statement the bill includes access to a new $50 billion hospital fund. But what his statement doesn’t say is that those changes… are estimated to amount to $89 billion in cuts over 10 years, according to AHCCCS, Arizona’s Medicaid system.
- Experts say the changes to the provider tax could cause hospitals in rural areas to close, creating longer ER wait times, fewer specialists, and more crowded facilities.
- Earlier this week, activists gathered outside of Ciscomani’s Tucson office, urging him to vote no on the Trump-backed bill, voicing concerns about how it would impact healthcare.
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