Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed a bill Friday authorizing the state to participate in a federal health insurance program designed to provide subsidized health care to children from low-income families, Reuters reports. The 2010 program, already offered in the other 49 states, is geared toward kids whose families earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to purchase private insurance.
The bill was controversial in the state legislature, with many conservative lawmakers opposing the program.
"Some of us here on the floor have obviously forgotten that we were not elected to expand government programs," said state Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix). "We were elected to get rid of them."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The program, known as KidsCare, is expected to serve about 30,000 kids in Arizona. It may go into effect as early as August.
-
Quiz of The Week: 30 August – 5 SeptemberQuiz Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The week's best photosIn Pictures A quick escape, an underground classroom, and more
-
The Week Unwrapped: What does Bake Off say about Channel 4?Podcast Plus, why are Scottish drug deaths so stubbornly high? And are women in their 30s too anxious about their eggs?
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Food may contribute more to obesity than exerciseUnder the radar The devil's in the diet
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Is that the buzzing sound of climate change worsening sleep apnea?Under the radar Catching diseases, not those ever-essential Zzs
-
Deadly fungus tied to a pharaoh's tomb may help fight cancerUnder the radar A once fearsome curse could be a blessing
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Climate change can impact our gut healthUnder the radar The gastrointestinal system is being gutted
