Tucson Hospital Officially Closes, One Year After Andy Biggs’ Healthcare Cuts

Today, Select Specialty Hospital's Tucson East campus announced that it's closing its doors, months ahead of its originally announced September date and one year after Andy Biggs voted for the largest healthcare cut in Arizona history. The closure eliminates nearly 100 jobs and deprives the region of specialty care for brain injuries, cardiac conditions, and infectious diseases.

Not only did Biggs vote for these cuts, he wants to go even further, saying, “I agree with the more cut approach.”  

Copper State Victory spokesperson Nicholas Simões Machado said: 

“Andy Biggs' healthcare cuts shuttered a hospital in his own hometown, costing nearly 100 jobs and leaving Tucson families with fewer options for the care they need. Arizonans won’t forget Andy Biggs’ extreme record of closing hospitals, raising healthcare costs, and kicking 200,000 Arizonans off their healthcare.”

Read more about how Biggs has repeatedly voted to make healthcare unaffordable and inaccessible for Arizonans:  

• Biggs voted to slash healthcare for over 200,000 Arizonans so far. 

• His healthcare cuts have directly led to the closure of eight local healthcare clinics and put an additional eight rural hospitals at risk of permanent closure.

• Monthly healthcare premiums increased 30 percent after Biggs voted to strip tax credits away from over 400,000 Arizonans, and his subsequent votes against bipartisan efforts to reverse the damage and lower costs.

• Following this premium cliff, Arizona experienced the third-largest decline in Affordable Care Act enrollment nationwide, with coverage falling by a staggering 29.5 percent.

• Former Republican Gov. Jan Brewer called out the very Medicaid cuts Biggs has embraced, cautioning that “you can't kill people to balance your budget. You just can't do that." Despite this, Biggs has called the Washington budget a “good thing” and has even pushed for “the more cut approach.” 

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