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Arizona promised secure treatment for its sickest psychiatric patients. Seven years later, it still doesn’t exist.
Secure behavioral health residential facilities were authorized in 2019 to fill a critical gap in care. But years of implementation delays have left people with serious mental illness caught in a loop of hospitalizations, homelessness and crisis.
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HEALTH
Treatment Interrupted
Clozapine is widely considered the most effective treatment for patients with severe schizophrenia. But across the U.S., people were repeatedly denied access to it because of a federal monitoring system that could block prescriptions over missed or delayed blood tests. Despite recent reforms, decades of stigma and a fragmented mental health system continue to reinforce the medication’s status as a drug of last resort.
Medicaid fraud targeting Indigenous communities continues despite AHCCCS reforms
Though Arizona’s Medicaid agency says behavioral health fraud has stabilized since 2023, questionable sober living homes continue to recruit Native Americans. Lawmakers say systemic oversight failures remain unresolved, while legitimate providers contend the agency’s response is still hindering care for vulnerable patients.
Despite broad support for abortion access in their districts, GOP lawmakers push new restrictions
Voters in 2024 passed Proposition 139, a constitutional amendment guaranteeing Arizonans the right to abortion, with nearly 62% support statewide. An AZCIR analysis shows Republican lawmakers responded by proposing bills and backing court actions that could narrow its reach.
Arizona’s community health centers were built on Medicaid. Now they face uncertainty
Arizona’s community health centers, which serve 870,000 patients, are among the most Medicaid-dependent in the nation. Now, a federal law could strip billions of Medicaid dollars from the state in the coming years — a loss that leaders warn could force clinics to cut services or even close.
Arizona has recovered just 5% of taxpayer dollars lost in $2.5 billion Medicaid fraud scheme
The state has so far indicted more than 100 individuals and recouped $125 million. But despite state and federal efforts, it’s likely that most of the stolen taxpayer money won’t be recovered, officials say.
Director of Arizona Medicaid agency resigns following fraud scheme response
Under Carmen Heredia’s leadership, the agency withheld payment to more than 300 businesses as it investigated fraud allegations. The state’s swift response left patients homeless, the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica found.
New law increases oversight of Arizona sober living homes
The Arizona governor has signed legislation increasing oversight of sober living homes. It comes two years after state officials announced that a Medicaid fraud scheme had targeted Native Americans seeking drug and alcohol treatment.
Dozens of people died in Arizona sober living homes as state officials fumbled Medicaid fraud response
Many of the deaths in sober living homes reviewed by AZCIR and ProPublica happened as officials — in at least five instances across Republican and Democratic administrations — failed to act on evidence that rampant fraud was imperiling Native Americans whose care was paid for by the state’s Medicaid agency.
Lack of oversight, coordination hinder efforts to reform Arizona’s rise in maternal mortality
Despite a flurry of recommendations from maternal health advocates and policymakers, a lack of strategic oversight and coordination—exacerbated by budget and staffing constraints—has hindered comprehensive reforms aimed at combating Arizona’s maternal mortality crisis.
Gaps in mental health training, rural access to care compound Arizona’s maternal mortality crisis
Perinatal mental health conditions are among the leading causes of maternal deaths in Arizona—deaths largely considered preventable. Experts say a lack of specialized training among maternal health care providers, compounded by pervasive barriers to care in rural areas, is preventing many women from getting help in time.
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