Federal Appeals Court Orders Arizona To Halt Mandatory Medicaid Co-Payments

On August 24, 2011, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to eliminate mandatory co-payments for Medicaid beneficiaries. AHCCCS had implemented mandatory co-pays for some Medicaid patients in 2003, then again in late 2010. The payments ranged from $4 to $30; if a Medicaid beneficiary was unable to pay the fee, Medicaid health care professionals were permitted to turn the individual away. The court ruled on a class action lawsuit initially filed by Arizona Medicaid enrollees in 2003; the complaint is now called . . .