This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.
A Final Comment
On May 28, New York Times writer Robert Pear headlined, "Administration Opposes Challenges to Medicaid Cuts," saying:
On May 26, "(i)n a friend-of-the court brief (to) the Supreme Court, the Justice Department said that no federal law allowed private individuals to sue states to enforce" mandated Medicaid rates, "sufficient to enlist enough providers" to assure recipients access care "to the same extent as the general population in an area."
Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal's brief said suits "would not be compatible" with the ability of Health and Human Services officials to assure states comply, despite low payment rates in many areas preventing recipients from accessing care. Nonetheless, he said Medicaid equal access provisions are "broad and nonspecific." Moreover, federal health officials, he argued, are more qualified than judges to decide policy objectives, including cutting costs.
At issue before the Court is Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California (January 2011). Legislators approved payment cuts to providers. They sued in federal court, winning in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on grounds they conflict with Medicaid law, arguing if cutbacks are approved, mandated care can't be provided. The Supreme Court agreed to hear multiple appeals together on the same issue.
Although Medicaid law doesn't explicitly allow lawsuits, Ninth Circuit judges said beneficiaries and providers could sue under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2), establishing all its provisions, US treaties, and federal statutes "the supreme law of the land."
As a result, payment reductions violate federal Medicaid law, threatening access to vital healthcare for poor recipients needing federal/state aid to provide it.
California appealed to the Supreme Court, Obama's Justice Department arguing for denial of what federal law mandates. As a result, consumer advocates are outraged. So is Washington and Lee Professor Timothy Jost saying:
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
