Why lawmakers can’t allow AHCCCS to expire in July
Quality health insurance coverage and better health outcomes for cancer patients are synonymous.
More than 2 million Arizonans benefit from the health care coverage and services provided by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona’s Medicaid program.
Yet that coverage could evaporate if the Legislature does not reauthorize AHCCCS, which is set to expire on July 1.
It is vital that lawmakers continue the program and protect Arizonans’ access to necessary cancer screenings and treatment.
As a community-engaged researcher at the University of Arizona and national board member of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), I have seen firsthand how systemic and structural barriers affect early cancer detection and screening efforts, particularly for underserved communities.
Through our research program “Nosotros Comprometidos a Su Salud — Committed to Your Health,” we are actively working to alleviate some of these barriers. Our mission is to reduce health disparities faced by Mexican-origin communities and other Hispanic communities in Southern Arizona.
Over the past nine years, Nosotros efforts have primarily focused on prevention, early detection and treatment of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a risk factor for liver cancer that disproportionately affects the Mexican-origin community.
We go to community-based settings throughout Southern Arizona and using FibroScan®, a noninvasive test, we screen Arizonans for NAFLD.
Through our efforts we screened more than 700 Arizonans in 2022 and have come to understand that many members of our community will engage in early detection and screening for liver disease if systemic and structural barriers are addressed.
Alarmingly, 61% of Mexican-origin adults were identified as having NAFLD — higher than recent national estimates for non-Hispanic white (56.8%) and non-Hispanic Black adults (46.2%).
All the while, we hear that individuals are empowered by knowing their disease status and understanding the necessary steps they can take to modify their risk for liver cancer in the future.
Despite our success improving early detection and screening efforts for liver disease, not all individuals are given the choice of which steps they can take to prevent liver cancer.
Specifically, we have had significant difficulties connecting individuals to care for NAFLD if they are underinsured or uninsured.
In Arizona, Hispanic/Latino communities are the ethnic/racial group least likely to have health insurance, and liver disease and liver cancer are among the leading causes of death for the communities.
This is of particular concern, as previous studies have shown uninsured patients are more likely to present with late-stage disease and have worse short-term survival after a cancer diagnosis.
More than 37,000 Arizonans on AHCCCS had a service claim with a cancer diagnosis in fiscal 2022, and more than 2 million received basic health care services.
Legislation was introduced this session but has not yet been considered to extend AHCCCS for several more years.
We know that access to this coverage is the difference maker in cancer outcomes.
That is why the Nosotros team and ACS CAN are calling on our legislators to do what’s right: Protect access to screening and treatments by continuing Arizona’s Medicaid program.
Dr. David O. Garcia is an associate professor in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona and a member of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network National Board. Reach him at davidogarcia@arizona.edu.