government
State Medicaid eligibility lawsuit thrown out
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 24, 2012
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to review a lawsuit filed by Maine challenging the Affordable Care Act’s maintenance-of-effort requirement that prevents states from reducing Medicaid eligibility before 2014.
The Maine Dept. of Health and Human Services sued the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services on Sept. 4 over the right to drop more than 30,000 patients from its Medicaid rolls. Maine said the ACA’s maintenance-of-effort requirement preventing such a unilateral move is unconstitutional, given the U.S. Supreme Court’s reading of the reform law’s original Medicaid expansion language.
The maintenance-of-effort provision requires that states retain the same Medicaid eligibility levels they had in 2010, when the reform law was enacted. A previous mandate attached to the 2009 economic stimulus package means that states have been unable to cut back Medicaid eligibility from July 2008 levels without seeking a special waiver from the administration. Maine has said it now can announce its intent to initiate such a plan revision without securing such a waiver.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said it is reviewing Maine’s state plan amendment, noting that it has 90 days to approve or deny the Aug. 1 request. Maine said it cannot wait that long for a response. But in a Sept. 13 order, the appeals court declined to consider the suit, saying the facts do not warrant the injunctive relief sought by Maine.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/09/24/gvbf0924.htm.
