The bill signed into law on July 4, will affect hundreds of thousands of Arizonans currently enrolled in Medicaid, particularly childless adults, due to newly-added work and documentation requirements. University of Arizona associate vice president Dr. Daniel Derksen, director of the Arizona Center for Rural Health expects cuts and predicts a cascade of problems, including hospital closures, personal bankruptcy and delayed care. "You can't get to $1 trillion in savings without throwing a lot of people off," he said. "You can't do it unless you eliminate coverage or reduce the federal Medicaid funding to states."

Nearly one in every 10 Arizonans — about 750,000 people — is estimated to lack health insurance and the number may rise by hundreds of thousands depending on actions by Congress and President Donald Trump.

Dr. Derksen spoke with Susan Campbell of Good Morning Arizona on the implications of the Senate Budget Bill

Dr Derksen quoted in Cronkite News article on Medicaid cuts in Big Beautiful Bill could cripple some ofArizona's rural hospitals.

Kennedy has repeatedly promised to prioritize Native Americans’ health care. But Native Americans and health officials across tribal nations say those overtures are overshadowed by the collateral harm from massive cuts to federal health programs.

Opioid Stewardship Programs (OSPs) are a suite of tools to address substance misuse. Dr. Bridget Murphy, Assistant Research Professor at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, aims to advance OSPs in rural areas.

Profile of Kaiser Family Foundation Health News' Rural Health Desk.

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.