Medicaid plans › Arizona
Arizona Medicaid Managed-Care Plans for Providers
Enrollments are billed 50% at the start and 50% at submission; everything else 100% at the start.
AHCCCS is run by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. 1,843,297 people were enrolled in its 9 managed-care plans in 2024. To see their patients, a provider enrolls with AHCCCS through the AHCCCS Provider Enrollment Portal (APEP), then applies to each plan separately.
| Plan | Members (2024) | Share | Parent |
|---|---|---|---|
| UnitedHealthcare | 418,206 | 22.7% | UnitedHealth Group |
| Mercy Care | 404,903 | 22% | In-state |
| Arizona Complete Health - Complete Care Plan | 362,536 | 19.7% | Centene |
| Banner University Family Care | 276,963 | 15% | In-state |
| Health Choice Arizona | 208,447 | 11.3% | In-state |
| Care 1st | 78,820 | 4.3% | Centene |
| DES/Division of Developmental Disabilities | 43,161 | 2.3% | In-state |
| Molina Complete Care of Arizona | 41,704 | 2.3% | Molina Healthcare |
| DCS/CHP | 8,557 | 0.5% | In-state |
How Joining Works in Arizona
First the state: AHCCCS enrollment through the AHCCCS Provider Enrollment Portal (APEP), which gives you the Medicaid ID every plan asks for. Then the plans: each takes its own participation request and credentials you from your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile. 3 parent companies run plans here, and plans owned by the same company still contract state by state.
How to Join Each Arizona Plan
UnitedHealthcare (UnitedHealth Group): UnitedHealthcare Community Plans use UnitedHealthcare's provider onboarding: a participation request on the UnitedHealthcare provider site, credentialing from your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile, then a state-specific Community Plan agreement.
Arizona Complete Health - Complete Care Plan, Care 1st (Centene): Centene runs this plan alongside its Ambetter and Wellcare products. Each Centene plan takes its own contract request on the plan's provider website, credentials from your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile, and will not load a provider without the state Medicaid ID.
Molina Complete Care of Arizona (Molina Healthcare): Molina credentials each state separately. The contract request goes through the state's Molina provider site and requires an active state Medicaid enrollment; credentialing uses your CAQH ProView (DataSpring) profile.
Mercy Care, Banner University Family Care, Health Choice Arizona, DES/Division of Developmental Disabilities, DCS/CHP: This plan is run in-state rather than by a national carrier, so participation requests go to the plan's own provider relations or contracting team, listed on its provider website.
Also in Arizona: Medicare, AHCCCS and commercial credentialing.
Questions
Which Arizona Medicaid plan is the largest?
UnitedHealthcare, with 418,206 members in 2024, 22.7% of the 1,843,297 people enrolled in Arizona's Medicaid managed-care plans.
Do I have to join every Arizona Medicaid plan?
No. Each plan is a separate contract. Practices usually start with the two or three largest plans in their county, then add others as patients ask for them. All of them require AHCCCS enrollment first.
Membership from KFF, Medicaid MCO Enrollment by Plan and Parent Firm, 2024. Plans change when the state rebids its contracts; we confirm the current list on every file.