Why This is Personal

“I didn’t come to this issue from a briefing paper. I ran a behavioral healthcare organization serving Arizonans in addiction recovery, most of them on Medicaid. I’ve seen how poorly designed healthcare policy affects patients, providers, and businesses. Lagging Medicaid reimbursement rates combined with cuts to Medicaid mean healthcare providers struggle and patients lose access to care.

I have the experience to be part of solutions that improve the well-being of Arizonans.”

Protect AHCCCS from cuts

More than two million Arizonans depend on Arizona's Medicaid program, AHCCCS. Cutting healthcare coverage for some of our most vulnerable populations doesn’t reduce costs. It shifts them to emergency rooms and raises premiums for everyone with private or commercial insurance. Cuts to this program inevitably lead to increases in your healthcare and insurance costs.

ensure behavioral health Provider sustainability

Behavioral health care providers are struggling in Arizona today. Medicaid reimbursement rates must keep pace with the real cost of delivering care. Administrative requirements should be streamlined to improve efficiency without compromising the oversight necessary to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse. Untreated mental illness devastates families, reduces workforce productivity, and burdens every other system we fund. Julie will fight to protect and expand Arizona's behavioral health infrastructure because it is the fiscally responsible thing to do, not just the compassionate one.

Protect rural hospitals

Arizona’s rural hospitals run on thin margins. When one closes, entire communities can find themselves hours from emergency care, compromising healthcare outcomes. The Arizona State House must use every tool available to keep these rural hospitals open, because it’s truly a life-or-death situation.

Expand preventive and primary care

Preventive care costs far less than emergency care. Shifting Arizona's healthcare expenditure to expanded primary care access, mental health services, and preventive programs is a strategy to increase well-being for all Arizonans and reduce more expensive emergency healthcare costs.