Bill > SB1092

This bill requires the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) administration to annually apply for waivers or amendments to its current Section 1115 waiver from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) by March 30th. These waivers would allow Arizona to implement a work requirement for able-bodied adults receiving AHCCCS benefits, meaning they would need to be employed, actively seeking employment, or attending school/job training for at least 20 hours per week, and verify their compliance and any income changes monthly, with penalties for non-compliance or false reporting, though exemptions are provided for certain conditions like being a full-time high school student, sole caregiver of a young child, receiving disability benefits, or being deemed unfit for employment by a healthcare professional. Additionally, the bill seeks waivers to impose a lifetime limit of five years on benefits for able-bodied adults, excluding periods when they are pregnant, sole caregivers of young children, receiving disability benefits, full-time high school students, employed full-time while still eligible, enrolled before age nineteen, or meet specific eligibility criteria, and to develop cost-sharing requirements to discourage non-emergency use of emergency departments and ambulance services. The AHCCCS administration is also exempt from standard rulemaking requirements for one year to implement these changes, and the director must notify legislative leadership by April 1st of each year regarding the waiver submissions.