Senator Janae Shamp (R-AZ), a nurse and former healthcare worker, has sponsored senate bill 1212, a legislation now advancing through the State Senate to reshape how insurance companies compensate doctors.
The measure, passed Tuesday by a 16-13 party-line vote, would prevent insurers, including Medicaid, from adjusting physician reimbursements based on patients' refusal to get vaccinated.
Sen. Shamp argues the bill addresses real barriers for families opting out of the full CDC childhood vaccination schedule. Some parents report difficulty finding pediatricians for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children, as practices join "value-based care" programs that offer bonuses for meeting preventive care targets, such as vaccination rates.
The Defender reported that a 2018 Pediatrics journal study found that about half of pediatricians receive such payments, while 2024 research shows nearly half decline or dismiss vaccine-refusing families.
The legislation is personal for Shamp, who lost her own nursing job after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.
The bill would prohibit insurers from factoring patient vaccination refusal rates into doctor pay structures.
Consistent Fight
Meanwhile, Shamp's concerns about insurance incentives don't stop with the vaccination bill. She has also raised alarms about what she calls waste inside Arizona's AHCCCS Medicaid program, the same program her bill would bar from tying doctor pay to vaccine rates.
Drawing on LexisNexis data from an ongoing probe, Shamp says roughly 34% of verified enrollees exceed asset limits.
That could mean as many as 130,000 ineligible recipients draining $313 million a year from a program that already costs $6 billion annually just for its Aged, Blind, and Disabled category.
Now, the two efforts reflect Shamp's broader argument that Arizona's healthcare system mismanages public funds and distorts the doctor-patient relationship.
Shamp's office did not respond to a request for comment.
The bill now heads to the House for consideration before reaching Governor Katie Hobbs' (D-AZ) desk.
