The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether states should have more freedom to cut Medicaid payments to hospitals, physicians and other providers, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
The high court agreed to hear an appeal from California, joined by 22 other states, on a federal court decision to block about $1 billion in Medicaid cutbacks approved by the California legislature in 2008. Jerry Brown, the new Democratic California governor, has a new plan to reduce Medicaid payments to providers by 10 percent and reduce program expenses by $719 million.
In addition to previous limits on state Medicaid cuts, the healthcare reform law limits states' ability to reduce Medicaid coverage. Earlier this month, 33 Republican governors and governors-elect called for removal of those limits. Some Democrats also call for cuts. Andrew Cuomo, the new governor of New York, said he plans to reduce Medicaid expenditures by $2.1 billion. This movement follows an increase in state Medicaid spending in 2010, when states took advantage of enhanced federal funding that will expire in mid-2011.
The California Medical Association called the state's current Medicaid payments "ridiculously low" and said cutting them further "would only serve to force more doctors out of the program and decrease access to care for millions of poor and unemployed Californians."
Mr. Brown filed the appeal to the Supreme Court as California attorney general, arguing that private parties, such as the hospitals, physicians and other providers who brought the original case against the state, had no right to a particular level of reimbursement.
The Obama administration had advised the high court to not hear the case, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is said to be sympathetic to the state's argument. The high court agreed to hear three separate appeals by the state, including the lead case, Maxwell-Jolly vs. Independent Living Center of Southern California.
Read the Los Angeles Times report on Medicaid
Read more coverage of states' plans to cut Medicaid spending:
- Governors Want Reform Law Changed So They Can Reduce Medicaid Coverage
- New Governor of New York Planning to Cut Medicaid
- More Than Half of States Expanded Medicaid Programs in 2010
The high court agreed to hear an appeal from California, joined by 22 other states, on a federal court decision to block about $1 billion in Medicaid cutbacks approved by the California legislature in 2008. Jerry Brown, the new Democratic California governor, has a new plan to reduce Medicaid payments to providers by 10 percent and reduce program expenses by $719 million.
In addition to previous limits on state Medicaid cuts, the healthcare reform law limits states' ability to reduce Medicaid coverage. Earlier this month, 33 Republican governors and governors-elect called for removal of those limits. Some Democrats also call for cuts. Andrew Cuomo, the new governor of New York, said he plans to reduce Medicaid expenditures by $2.1 billion. This movement follows an increase in state Medicaid spending in 2010, when states took advantage of enhanced federal funding that will expire in mid-2011.
The California Medical Association called the state's current Medicaid payments "ridiculously low" and said cutting them further "would only serve to force more doctors out of the program and decrease access to care for millions of poor and unemployed Californians."
Mr. Brown filed the appeal to the Supreme Court as California attorney general, arguing that private parties, such as the hospitals, physicians and other providers who brought the original case against the state, had no right to a particular level of reimbursement.
The Obama administration had advised the high court to not hear the case, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is said to be sympathetic to the state's argument. The high court agreed to hear three separate appeals by the state, including the lead case, Maxwell-Jolly vs. Independent Living Center of Southern California.
Read the Los Angeles Times report on Medicaid
Read more coverage of states' plans to cut Medicaid spending:
- Governors Want Reform Law Changed So They Can Reduce Medicaid Coverage
- New Governor of New York Planning to Cut Medicaid
- More Than Half of States Expanded Medicaid Programs in 2010