Supreme Court Docket Report - January 18, 2011

Originally published January 18, 2011

Keywords:appellate, Medicaid funds, supremacy clause

Today the Supreme Court granted certiorari in one case of interest to the business community:

Medicaid—Private Right of Action Under Supremacy Clause

Under 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(30)(A), a state that accepts federal Medicaid funds must adopt a state plan containing methods and procedures to "safeguard against unnecessary utilization of" Medicaid services and to "assure that payments are consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care and are sufficient to enlist enough providers so that care and services are available . . . at least to the extent that such care and services are available to the general population." Today the Supreme Court consolidated and granted certiorari in three cases to decide whether the Supremacy Cause gives Medicaid providers and beneficiaries a private cause of action to enforce that provision through a preemption challenge to a state