Health N You

Public health advocates are warning about the consequences of a plan to eliminate funding for Arizona’s KidsCare, the state health program covering 47,000 children of the working poor. Gov. Jan Brewer proposed the move to deal with Arizona’s $5-billion budget deficit. Critics argue uninsured low-income families would then have only two options: take their children to overwhelmed community clinics or to hospital emergency rooms.

Among the other programs facing cuts is Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) Administration, Arizona’s Medicaid agency. Tara Plese, director of government and media relations for the Arizona Association of Community Health Care Centers, says that means several clinics around the state may have to close for lack of revenue.