Healthcare reform came too late for 47,000 children of low-income parents in Arizona. Last week, Arizona became the first state to completely cut S-CHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) from its budget. It was one of three states to cap S-CHIP enrollment last year, but the other two states, California and Tennessee, removed their caps quickly. Arizona – well, not so much.

For low-income Arizona residents, recent legislative ax-wielding has resulted in 357,000 losing all healthcare coverage. Between S-CHIP and Medicaid slash-and-burns, Arizona may soon claim the title of unhealthiest state. What’s more, state leadership is willing to forgo current matching federal funds for these programs AND skip future federal matches under potential healthcare reform. Looks like it’s time to get the legislature some reading glasses — it has become so short-sighted, it’s now legally blind.

First an Arizona lawmaker proposed to yank Medicaid and other social services from poverty-stricken folks caught enjoying an adult beverage, buying any junk food, or driving a car or watching a TV costing more than a bargain-basement amount. Now there’s a new proposal to yank free Medicaid benefits from the poorest Arizonans, period. Arizona has more than earned its latest THR Healthcare Hall of Shame Award.

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As I live in southern Arizona, I expect immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, to be the scapegoat for the problem de jour. The county hospital is running a deficit for the 15^th consecutive year? It’s the illegals. But it doesn’t stop there – state and city government mismanagement, educational system woes, the housing market collapse, even global warming – all are somehow caused by illegal immigrants. “Blame Mexico” may not be admirable root cause analysis, but it’s a surefire way to identify a redneck. Now a new Health Affairs report has debunked a nationwide craze of immigrant scapegoating.

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The numbers for 2009 are out, and they aren’t pretty. For all the fuss over the ten-year, $1 trillion health reform price tag, well, one year’s worth of our current healthcare costs 250% of that. Ouch.

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