Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System

The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) is the name of the Medicaid program in the state of Arizona. As with all Medicaid programs, it is a joint program between the state and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It became the final such state Medicaid program to implemented under Title XIX (as all other states had previously created their own programs) when it began in October 1982 as a section 1115 demonstration project.

Until 1988, AHCCCS covered only acute care, except for limited post-hospital skilled nursing facility coverage. The Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) was created to allow Arizona to implement a long-term care (LTC) program for the elderly, physically disabled, and the developmentally disabled. It is administered as a distinct program from the acute care program.

In 1990, AHCCCS began phasing in mental health services, beginning with coverage of seriously emotionally disabled children under the age of 18 who require residential care. Over the next five years, behavioral health coverage was extended to all Medicaid eligible persons.

In 2001, AHCCCS received permission from CMS to expand eligibility for its Medicaid acute care program to 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.

As 2005, almost 1,013,800 people were served in the acute care program and close to 41,655 were enrolled in the LTC program. In addition, 50,672 children were enrolled in the Arizona SCHIP program, known as KidsCare.