Like any college student, Vanessa Ramirez never expected chemotherapy would be part of her busy school schedule.
I dont have any history of cancer in my family, so it wasnt something I was on the lookout for, Ramirez said, sitting outside the library of her alma mater Arizona State University.
Ramirez was diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she was 23. Now more than a decade later, shes healthy and so are her children.
But theres also emergencies that happen.I have two young kids who are running around.They are rambunctious. I have a daughter who likes to climb trees, Ramirez said, explaining the priority she places on health insurance.
Overcoming her illness at such a young age, Ramirez doesnt take health care for granted. And the Affordable Care Act has given her that security. She bought insurance through healthcare.gov, even with her preexisting condition, and her children got covered, too.
I want them to be able to have health insurance and doctors to monitor them, in case something unfortunate comes up, Ramirez said.
Ramirezs kids are covered through the federal Childrens Health Insurance Program, which is for working families who dont quite qualify for Medicaid. Arizona’s version is called.
Arizona lawmakers froze enrollment back in 2010. And until last year, Arizona was the only state without an active program. But Obamacare helped revive it by covering the entire cost in, at least through 2017.
A lot of people dont realize that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act could wipe out KidsCare that we just got back,” said Dana Wolfe Naimark with advocacy group the Childrens Action Alliance.
Since Gov. Doug Ducey and the legislature reopened KidsCare last year, enrollment has already surpassed 13,000. But now Naimark worries about the fallout if the ACA is repealed.
It would be up to the state legislature whether they could invest state dollars to keep it going, or whether the coverage would go away, Naimark said.
In recent years, Arizona has hadin the country. But Obamacare has begun to change that, bringing coverage to thousands of kids. It was also one of the Republican-led states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA but only after fierce in-fighting about growing federal influence; the same was true for reinstating KidsCare. State law halts or shuts down Medicaid expansion and KidsCare if federal funding dips too low.
Whenever you take a look at some of these top-down Washington approaches, you really do lard up these insurance policies with a lot of benefits that individuals and families would not go out and buy on their own, saidNaomi Lopez Bauman of the conservative. Her organization sued to stop the state’s Medicaid expansion.
One of the proposals favored by Republican leadership is giving states a fixed amount of money, called a block grant, and letting them have more say in who and what they cover. Bauman saidwith enough flexibility, she believes the state could save money.
How do you make it easier and better for individuals and families to get the coverage and care that best meets their own needs and preferences?” Bauman said.
But other conservatives say changing how these programs are funded could backfire. is a Republican state representative who voted for Medicaid expansion and for restarting KidsCare.
What I hope does not happen is that decisions are made nationally that actually penalize us for being efficient and effective, she said.
Carter says Arizona already has one of the lowest-cost Medicaid programs in the country. And Medicaid officials here caution that block grants could actuallyit has a fast growing population and a large share of people living around the poverty line. Less federal funding would most likely force lawmakers to cut back services.
We will have to make very difficult decisions in Arizona on who will and will not receive coverage, Carter said.
It would cost Arizonato keep everyone on Medicaid covered like they are now. And even Democrats like state Senate Minority Leader Katie Hobbs concede thats not realistic.
I dont see anyone in the state coming forward and saying we will cover this, because dont have the money to do it, Hobbs said.
Arizona hasthan almost any other state. Add in Medicaid and KidsCare, andcould be at risk of losing their coverage if Congress doesnt come up with a replacement that includes similar coverage.
This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.