Arizona became the first state to eliminate its Children's Health Insurance Program when Gov. Jan Brewer signed a budget that will leave nearly 47,000 low-income children without coverage. The state also will roll back Medicaid coverage for childless adults in a move that is expected to eventually drop 310,000 people from the rolls. Hospital officials and advocates for low-income people said they were worried that emergency rooms would be overrun by patients who had few other options for care, and that children might suffer enduring developmental problems because of inadequate medical attention, the New York Times reports.
