Experts say millions of low-income people in the U.S. stand to lose their health insurance under Congressional Republicans' proposed budget for next year, which would end most federal support for Medicaid and shift costs to the states, who simply can not absorb the shortfall. "I estimate that probably 520,000 Arizonans that are currently covered by Medicaid will lose coverage," said University of Arizona associate vice president Dr. Daniel Derksen, director of the Arizona Center for Rural Health. "That's substantial. You're not saving money when you throw people off of coverage. You're just shifting the cost."

Dr. Derksen cited in ProPublica article discussing impacts of health care professional shortages for small rural community hospitals.

In a look at the cost of health care for migrants in Arizona, Dr. Derksen weighs in on the hidden cost of not providing care.

According to the University of Arizona’s Center for Rural Health, Arizona is ranked 42nd in the nation when it comes to the number of licensed PCPs per capita. For every 100,000 residents, the state has 80. Even the national number — 94 — is woefully inadequate and is getting worse, experts say. Dr. Derksen quoted in Green Valley News

Dr. Derksen quoted in article on possible funding cuts to federal programs. Derksen said he is very anxious about the Affordable Care Act expiring in December and the talks of the potential cuts to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), a formula that decides how much the federal government reimburses each state for Medicaid expenditures relative to the average per capita income.

A Training program was developed through a collaboration between the Arizona Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (AzFLEX) at the Arizona Center for Rural Health (AzCRH) and the Nurse Midwife Program at the College of Nursing at the University of Arizona. In order to improve maternal healthcare skills in rural Arizona, the training builds skills for providers who practice in maternal health deserts and high need areas where distances to labor and delivery services can be many miles away.

Dr. Derksen spoke at Primary Care Physician Workforce Development Summit at the U of A College of Medicine - Phoenix, quoted in article.

the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a $3.9 million grant to the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. This funding will enhance primary care and rural health training opportunities, focusing on underserved communities across the state.

Changes to Medicaid are expected under a second Trump administration and a potential target for spending cuts is the Medicaid expansion that was allowed through the federal Affordable Care Act, according to a Nov. 27 analysis by KFF, an independent health policy research and information organization. Dr. Derksen quoted.

Analyses by the Maternal Mortality Review committee have found that almost 90% of deaths associated with pregnancy in Arizona are preventable, and largely result from systemic issues such as a lack of access to perinatal care or social disparities, like unreliable housing or transportation. About 71 pregnant or postpartum women die in the state each year on average, with Black and Indigenous women overrepresented and rural deaths increasing.