JUNE 25, 2014
Bipartisan Coalition Reaffirms Broad Support for Governor Brewer’s Petition in Medicaid Lawsuit
Former governor, lawmakers & business organizations filing Amici Curiae in Arizona Supreme Court
PHOENIX – Former Arizona Governor Fife Symington, along with a bipartisan coalition of state legislators and business community organizations, today are filing in Arizona Supreme Court an Amici Curiae brief in support of Governor Brewer’s Petition for Review in the Medicaid Restoration lawsuit.
In May, Governor Brewer and AHCCCS Director Tom Betlach petitioned the state Supreme Court to review an appellate decision allowing the challenge to Arizona’s Medicaid Restoration Law – brought forth by legislator plaintiffs who voted against the plan during the 2013 legislative session – to proceed.
The Amici Curiae brief being filed today urges the Court to grant the governor’s Petition and reverse the appellate opinion and the unprecedented legislative ramifications that will follow if the opinion is allowed to stand.
Statement from Governor Brewer
“When I announced my Medicaid Restoration Plan early last year, I knew its passage and implementation would be no easy feat. But I and the majority of Arizonans – including lawmakers, business leaders, the health care community and the citizens who’ve twice voted to require Medicaid eligibility for our working poor – knew that it was the right decision for Arizona.
The brief being filed today is the latest validation of the overwhelming support, as well as the human and economic importance, of Medicaid restoration for Arizona. This is about providing thousands of Arizonans with access to crucial, cost-effective healthcare, saving our rural and safety-net hospitals, protecting our state budget and ensuring our ability to appropriately fund critical state programs and services. It is not a partisan or political issue – but allowing the confusing and unprecedented appellate decision to stand would turn it into one, and open the door for lawmakers in the future to accomplish in our courts what they failed to accomplish at the Capitol. This is not viable, and it is not the way our political process is meant to function.
“I am immensely grateful to Governor Symington, the legislators and the business organizations who have signed their name in vocal and steadfast support of my Petition and this plan. I remain optimistic that the Arizona Supreme Court will take up this critically-important matter.”
