Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Medicaid Payment Case - January 19, 2011

On Jan. 18, the US Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the case Maxwell-Jolly v. Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. The case is one of three to be consolidated that involve a proposed 10% reduction in Medi-Cal payments to health care providers in California. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that the reduction violated Medicaid laws because the California Legislature had failed to conduct a study of the rate reduction’s effect on access to care. Now, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether health care providers may challenge California’s rate reduction under the Supremacy Clause by showing that Medicaid law preempts a state law cutting reimbursement. NAPH and other hospital groups had been opposed to review of the case by the Supreme Court, due to the significant implications that such payment reduction would have in California and elsewhere. The Court has not yet set a date for oral arguments.