The leaders said Medicaid beneficiaries should be able to file suit to enforce their right to care and to challenge state Medicaid cuts. The Obama administration holds that beneficiaries and healthcare providers should not be able to sue state officials over cuts to Medicaid payment rates.
The lawmakers said the administration’s position would make Medicaid less effective. They also pointed out that the stance conflicts with more than a century of court precedents that allow people to sue state officials for actions that are inconsistent with federal law.
The friend-of-the-court brief was filed by seven Democrat leaders, including Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Read the New York Times report on Medicaid.
