AHCCCS Continues Coordinated Response to Flooding Impacts Across Arizona

As flooding continues to affect communities in parts of Arizona, AHCCCS has activated and coordinated a comprehensive response to help ensure members maintain access to critical health care services, medications, medical equipment, and transportation. Working closely with state, tribal, local, and health care partners, AHCCCS is monitoring conditions statewide and taking proactive steps to support affected members and providers.

Emergency Response Coordination

• Activated coordination through the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) under Emergency Support Function 8 (Public Health and Medical Services) and continues to monitor flood impacts statewide in coordination with public health and emergency response partners.
• Conducted statewide situational monitoring of emergency declarations, evacuations, provider impacts, hospital status, water contamination concerns, and member access to care in affected communities.
• Communicated emergency response expectations and reporting requirements to health plans and requested same-day updates to support statewide response efforts and Executive Branch information requests.

Member and Provider Impact Assessment

• Requested operational updates from managed care organizations (MCOs), the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), and the Division of Fee-for-Service Management/American Indian Health Program (DFSM/AIHP), including:
  • Member impacts
  • High-risk member identification
  • Provider impacts
  • Outreach activities
  • Ongoing monitoring and response efforts

Ensuring Access to Medications

• Implemented a 10-day refill-too-soon override for AHCCCS Fee-for-Service members in flood-affected areas.
• Coordinated with managed care health plans to implement similar emergency refill accommodations for their members.
• Worked with the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) and the Arizona Board of Pharmacy regarding emergency prescription refill authority available during declared emergencies.
• Relayed information to MCO partners regarding the activation of Healthcare Ready's Rx Open system, providing real-time information on open and closed pharmacies and dialysis centers in affected areas.
• Requested additional information from health plans regarding:
  • Early refill options
  • Closed or inaccessible pharmacies
  • Dialysis disruptions
  • Oxygen and durable medical equipment (DME) disruptions
  • Opioid treatment program dosing disruptions

Tribal and Community Coordination

• Coordinated with the Navajo Area Indian Health Service and tribal partners to assess pharmacy operations and medication access in affected tribal communities.
• Engaged DFSM/AIHP, Tribal Regional Behavioral Health Authorities (RBHAs), Tribal Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) programs, and non-emergency medical transportation providers to assess impacts and coordinate care for tribal populations.

AHCCCS will continue working with its partners across Arizona to monitor conditions, address emerging needs, and help ensure members can access the care and services they need throughout the response and recovery efforts.