PHOENIX — Governor Katie Hobbs announced new steps this week to safeguard healthcare services for Arizonans with developmental disabilities while ensuring more responsible use of taxpayer dollars.
The measures were developed in collaboration with service providers, health plans, and parent advocates. Hobbs said the move comes in response to proposals by Republican lawmakers to slash Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) funding by up to 50%, a move that advocates say would leave vulnerable Arizonans without services or care.
“It is outrageous that the legislative majority continues to hold Arizonans with autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome hostage to their political stunts,” Hobbs said. “Their antics are both inhumane and fiscally irresponsible.”
New Cost-Control Measures Rolled Out
The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) has worked with stakeholders over the past year to refine the Parents as Paid Caregivers (PPCG) program. The administrative actions announced include:
40-Hour Weekly Cap: Starting July 1, 2025, parents providing care under PPCG will be limited to 40 hours per child each week.
Stronger Care Standards: Beginning October 1, 2025, caregiving must meet the standard of “extraordinary care” to qualify for taxpayer-funded compensation.
Better Billing Transparency: Also starting July 1, 2025, new Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) billing codes will distinguish when a parent, rather than another caregiver, is providing services—improving data and oversight.
Hobbs called on lawmakers to stop political posturing and pass a clean supplemental funding bill to ensure that services remain available through the end of the fiscal year.
GOP Accused of Budget Hypocrisy
Governor Hobbs also pushed back on GOP claims that the DDD supplemental funding request is out of the ordinary, listing multiple years of routine supplemental appropriations under previous Republican administrations:
FY16: $26 million
FY17: $117.3 million
FY18: $35.6 million
FY22: $463 million
FY23: $691 million
Meanwhile, Hobbs pointed out that Republicans have pledged to pass a $48.4 million ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Account) supplemental for private education vouchers—without proposing any accountability reforms, despite concerns about runaway spending.
“Now that I have implemented cost-control measures, they need to pass a clean supplemental bill and give Arizonans with disabilities and their caregivers the certainty that they deserve,” said Hobbs. “If they refuse, they need to show Arizonans their budget plan.”
The DDD currently faces a $122 million shortfall, and without legislative action, services could be threatened as early as May.
