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Healthcare

Governor Jan Brewer affirms her commitment to Medicaid Expansion at VIP's 2013 Leader Assembly

Guided by a moral mandate to care for the sick, VIP has organized to secure healthcare for children, working families, and the disabled — from Medicaid Expansion to saving a county hospital, and funding behavioral health care through Prop 409.

  • 2025 - After decades of working to expand access to healthcare and behavioral health, VIP was a significant driver in passing Proposition 409, which authorizes $900 million to fund critical improvements for Valleywise Health in Maricopa County. The measure passed by a 1% margin.
  • 2023 - Following the pandemic, Arizona Students for Mental Health partnered with VIP to prevent youth suicide. Leaders won critical improvements for teen mental health within the Chandler Unified School District: a student advisory board, social worker checks for students with repetitive absences, and the opening of Hope Institute Clinic. 
  • 2013 - VIP's local organizing in key legislative districts was pivotal in securing the passage of Medicaid Expansion to provide health insurance for 300,000 Arizonans, ensuring that Arizona's indigent and working poor have access to healthcare
  • 2007 - VIP spearheaded drafting legislation and working with legislative allies to sponsor and pass SB1317, the Lifespan Respite Care bill, providing respite care for Arizonan citizens. Arizona was the fifth state in the nation to invest in respite care, and VIP continues to press for funds to be secured for this ground-breaking program.
  • 2003 - When the Maricopa Medical Center was threatened with closure, VIP mobilized 25,000 voters to secure passage of Prop 414, creating a special funding district — the Maricopa Integrated Health System, the major provider of indigent care in Central Arizona. This provided long-term, sustainable funding and built a new county hospital and neighborhood health clinics. 
  • 1997 - VIP supported the original implementation of Kids Care, a program covering children whose parents earn too much to qualify for AHCCCS but could not otherwise afford insurance. Member institutions organized the enrollment of thousands of eligible families.