Medicaid Fees for Health Habits Proposed

Arizona’s Medicaid program may start charging fees to smokers and to diabetics who don’t lose weight. The proposal comes from the state’s Health Care Cost Containment system. Smokers on Medicaid would be charged $50 a year. The same fee would apply to people with diabetes who don’t follow their doctors’ orders to lose weight. There’s a dual purpose, officials said. It would bring revenue into the state’s cash-strapped Medicaid program. And it could encourage people to take better care of themselves. The state will ask the federal government to approve these two proposals and others that are aimed at cutting costs. The New York Times and the Associated Press wrote about the proposals April 1.