SB 1207 Arizona Senate · 57th Legislature - First Regular Session

AHCCCS; speech therapy; cochlear implants

SB 1207 amends Arizona's Medicaid program (AHCCCS) to add speech therapy as a covered outpatient service for adults aged 21 and older, and to remove cochlear implants from the exclusion list for prosthetic devices. This directly affects AHCCCS members who require these specific health services. The bill changes the coverage rules by explicitly including speech therapy under outpatient services and ensuring cochlear implants are covered as prosthetic devices, aligning with federal Medicaid requirements. These are concrete policy changes to the list of covered health services under Arizona law.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Feb 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 27, 2025 Last action Mar 26, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Senate Engrossed Version · 7 edits · Feb 27, 2025

MODERATE

This bill amends Arizona's health care coverage rules to explicitly exclude speech therapy and cochlear implants for eligible adults aged 21 and older, while also removing coverage for bariatric surgery and pancreas-only transplants. The changes clarify that durable medical equipment coverage is limited to items covered by Medicare and exclude hearing aids and dentures from prosthetic device definitions.

Scope change

The bill narrows the scope of covered health services for adults aged 21 and older by adding specific exclusions for speech therapy and cochlear implants that were not previously explicitly stated in the statute.

ELIGIBILITY

Added explicit exclusion of speech therapy for eligible persons aged 21 and older in outpatient settings.

Added explicit exclusion of cochlear implants for eligible persons aged 21 and older.

Added explicit exclusion of bariatric surgery procedures including gastric bypass and restrictive procedures.

Added explicit exclusion of pancreas-only transplants from nonexperimental transplant coverage.

Clarified that prosthetic devices do not include hearing aids, dentures, or bone-anchored hearing aids.

Limited durable medical equipment coverage to items covered by Medicare.

Added exclusion for percussive vests as covered health services.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 27, 2025

How they voted

25–3

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 30

Feb 27, 2025

D Democratic13

11 Yea 2

84% Yea

R Republican17

14 Yea 3 Nay

82% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

lower

Mar 17, 2025

Lower · Passed

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

PASSED

upper

Feb 4, 2025

Upper · Passed

upper

Jan 29, 2025

Upper · Passed

upper

1 primary · 5 co-sponsors