Honestly it is the same in most states... here in FL I can not get medical care because I am 45 and have no children under the age of 18 at home. While I can get pre-existing insurance coverage through pcip (obama care) at a cost of $307 per month I have not been able to find a job for 2 years.
My husband is also looking for work as he lost his job in October, I am a full time student in College and because I am not working at least 20 hours per week we can only get food stamps for him, they will not add me to the benefits because I am a student. Mind you when I was working and not in school we were getting $367 per month food stamps, now with neither working we get $200 per month. Lucky for us however we do not have a mortgage or rent payment because our home my husband purchased 30 years ago when he was 18. His parents have a fund set up for each of the siblings that was supposed to be for when they pass away, but they dip into it monthly to pay the electric/water and such.
We collect and sell scrap metal, he helps the neighbors when they need their lawns mowed, minor car repairs or whatever we can do in order to pay what we have to pay. We cut our cell phones to $30 a month with h20 wireless, unlimited talk/text. We do not have cable or satellite tv, we do have the roku box with a subscription to Netflix @ $8 a month, Hulu+ @ $8 a month, playon @40 for lifetime and
Amazon Prime the netflix/hulu accounts are shared with my kids and they each pay 1/4 of it, so no biggy there, Amazon Prime was signed up as the student level and the kids surprised me by paying the annual fee for it as a gift a few months ago.
Reading what Arizona offers it seems that a 1099 position will not work either as it does state you must be paying taxes...
This is what I found for the Working Disabled
http://www.azahcccs.gov/applicants/categories/workingdisabled.aspx
Who Can Receive Services
The applicant may qualify for this program if the applicant:
Is age 16 - 65
Is an Arizona resident
Is an United States citizen or a qualified immigrant
Is working and paying taxes
Has a Social Security number or applies for one
To apply for a Social Security number visit the U.S. Social Security Administration
Make a copy of the form submitted as confirmation of applying for a Social Security Number
Applies for potential income that may be available, such as unemployment, pensions, and Social Security
Receives Social Security disability or is determined blind or disabled by the Disability Determination Services Administration (DDSA)
Is not eligible for any other AHCCCS program
Has countable monthly earned income (after allowable deductions) under $2,328.00 per month (only about half of your earnings will be used as your monthly countable income). AHCCCS does not count income of your family members nor unearned income such as Social Security. Assets are not counted when determining eligibility.
Premiums
This program has a premium of up to $35.00 per month.