Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Medicaid Eligibility topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves bill to expand Medicaid eligibility checks; Access reports system work needed
Summary
The committee advanced legislation requiring Access Arizona to use additional state data matches before and after enrollment to reduce improper Medicaid payments. Access staff said technical work and new data agreements (not yet costed) will be needed; the committee approved the bill as amended.
The Appropriations Committee on Feb. 19 advanced House Bill 2449, a bill that directs Access Arizona (the state's Medicaid eligibility system) to expand cross‑checks of state and federal data before enrollment and on an ongoing basis, and to adopt standards for hospitals that perform presumptive eligibility determinations.
Majority Leader Ben T. Carbone (bill sponsor) framed the measure as a safeguard to prevent improper payments and protect taxpayer dollars. Committee witnesses explained the proposal would require Access to match Department of Revenue records, DES wage data, death records and other administrative databases either monthly or quarterly and to formalize procedures for hospital presumptive eligibility. The chairman’s amendment replaced some original agency references and clarified that the Department of Revenue would participate in the data-match agreement.
Access representatives testified they already maintain several data-match agreements (PARIS, Social Security, new-hire and unemployment feeds and vendor services), and noted that the state’s payment-error rate for eligibility cases fell in the most recent audit cycle. Access staff said they do not currently have a matching agreement with the Department of Revenue and are developing cost estimates and technical designs to implement the proposed matches; they estimated additional development work would be necessary to create secure data transfers and to integrate results into the eligibility workflow.
Advocates for the policy told the committee that stronger verification up front and ongoing could recapture significant improper payments. Several committee members raised questions about estimated implementation costs; Access said it is preparing a fiscal estimate and that the Department of Revenue is already modernizing its systems.
The committee adopted a Livingston amendment narrowing the agencies listed for data matching to the Department of Revenue (and retained other cross-check requirements) and gave HB2449 as amended a due-pass recommendation (11 yes, 6 no, 1 present).
