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Congress is targeting Medicaid with deep cuts — and Arizona patients will pay the price [1]

['Dr. Gabrielle Goodrick', 'Vanuyen Pham', 'Rev. Dr. Cathy Clardy Patterson', 'Dr. Jenna Beckham', 'Dr. Erica Pettigrew', 'More From Author', 'April', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus']

Date: 2025-04-29

As a family physician in Arizona, I’ve spent more than two decades providing reproductive health care to people who need it most. I’ve seen how life-changing it is when someone can finally afford the birth control they need, get tested for an STI without fear of a surprise bill or receive prenatal care that helps them have a safe and healthy pregnancy.

That’s why I’m so deeply alarmed by the budget resolution passed by congressional Republicans calling for at least $880 billion in budget cuts that directly target Medicaid. Make no mistake: this is an attack on the reproductive health care safety net millions of Americans rely on to survive. We should be strengthening Medicaid and making it work better, not threatening to take it away.

Medicaid already pays providers far less than Medicare and private insurance. On top of that, research has found physicians experience a lot of billing hurdles and administrative frictions that affect their willingness to treat Medicaid patients. While countless Americans — including 2 million Arizonans — rely on Medicaid just to get in the door to receive care, it’s a constant battle to keep those doors open for them.

I believe everyone deserves access to reproductive health care, regardless of their income. Proposed cuts to Medicaid would make an already strained hospital and primary care system even harder to sustain.

Here in Arizona, we’re already fighting an uphill battle. If Congress reduces the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for the Medicaid expansion population, thousands of Arizonans are at risk. Arizona is one of several states that has what’s known as a “trigger law,” where lawmakers are required to end expansion if the FMAP drops below a certain level — in Arizona’s case, 80 percent. That would gut the very program that helps people access contraception, pregnancy care, and cancer screenings.

We’re already in a moment where reproductive rights are under relentless attack — from abortion bans to restrictions on contraception to defunding trusted health providers. And now, some lawmakers want to pull the rug out from under Medicaid, too.

But here’s the truth: access to reproductive health care saves lives. Some studies show uninsured women are significantly more likely to forgo critical services like pap smears that can catch cervical cancer, STI testing that limits the spread of disease and prenatal care necessary for safe and healthy births.

The cost of gutting Medicaid won’t just be measured in dollars and cents — it will be measured in delayed diagnoses, unwanted pregnancies, preventable complications and deaths.

Lawmakers who care about reproductive freedom, health equity, and basic human dignity must speak up now. As an Arizonan doctor, I will keep showing up. But I’m asking our leaders to do the same — for our patients and for the future of reproductive health care in this country.

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[1] Url: https://azmirror.com/2025/04/29/congress-is-targeting-medicaid-with-deep-cuts-and-arizona-patients-will-pay-the-price/

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