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Committee hears concerns that FY2026 continuation omits prior rural hospital funding; health-care bill includes one‑year hospital assessment
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Summary
During review of HB2966 (health care), committee members noted the continuation package does not include previously proposed ongoing rural hospital funding (about $4.3 million). Committee staff said the health-care bill would include a $100 million temporary hospital excise/assessment for FY2026 only.
Committee staff described House Bill 2966 as the fiscal 2026 health‑care budget bill and noted it contains provisions to implement county acute care and disproportionate share (DSH) distributions and other baseline health funding. Staff also said the health‑care measure includes a one‑year hospital assessment/excise at $100 million for FY2026, matching language the governor had proposed for one year.
Several members raised concerns that a previously proposed ongoing allocation of roughly $4.3 million to support rural hospitals was not included in the FEED continuation package before the committee. A member who follows healthcare issues told the committee she had reached out to rural hospitals and warned that stripping necessary funding could imperil access to care in rural Arizona. Committee discussion did not add the rural hospital amount to the continuation package; members suggested separate legislation might be needed to restore ongoing rural hospital support.
The committee did not take a separate vote to adopt additional rural hospital funding during the continuation hearing. Staff and members discussed the need to balance short‑term continuity against longer‑term programmatic commitments and noted that some hospital funding mechanisms under discussion would be temporary or require implementation details in separate measures.
