ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
tobacco tax allocation;
organ transplants
Restores the annual
allocation of medically needy account monies to the Department of Health Services
(DHS) for the nonrenal organ transplant medications program to $200,000 from
$70,000.
Laws 1998, Chapter 256, established the nonrenal organ
transplant medications program by appropriating $200,000 annually from the
medically needy account to DHS to provide medications for patients who receive
nonrenal organ transplants such as heart, heart-lung, single lung, double lung
and liver. Pursuant to statute, DHS
contracts with the University Medical Center (UMC) to administer this statewide
program.
Last year, the Legislature
reduced the annual allocation of monies from the medically needy account to DHS
for nonrenal organ transplant medications from $200,000 to $70,000. This reduction was based on available expenditure
data from 1998 through 2000.
Information was not available at the time for FY 2000-2001.
According to UMC, a number
of factors, including shrinking health care coverage of medications, increasing
pharmaceutical costs, a growing number of eligible recipients and exhaustion of
health care benefits, have resulted in an increased demand for assistance from
the nonrenal organ transplant medications program. For FY 2001-2002, the program served 27 people for a total cost
of $147,100; up from 13 people at a cost of $42,050 in FY 2000-2001.
To address the FY 2001-2002
shortfall, the Governor issued an Executive Order in January 2002 allocating up
to $80,000 from the health crisis fund to DHS for continuation of the
program. S.B. 1144 restores the annual
allocation of monies from the medically needy account to DHS for this program
to the original appropriation of $200,000.
1. Increases, from $70,000 to $200,000, the annual transfer of monies from the medically needy account to DHS for the nonrenal organ transplant medications program.
2. Makes a technical change.
3. Provides for a general effective date.
Prepared by Senate Staff
February 1, 2002