Aug 10 2011
Some congressional Democrats told the Supreme Court Monday that low-income Medicaid beneficiaries should be able to file suit to enforce their rights to care and to challenge state cuts to the program.
The New York Times: Democrats Challenging Administration On Medicaid
In an unusual break with the White House, the Democratic leaders of Congress told the Supreme Court on Monday that President Obama was pursuing a misguided interpretation of federal Medicaid law that made it more difficult for low-income people to obtain health care. The Democratic leaders said Medicaid beneficiaries must be allowed to file suit to enforce their right to care — and to challenge Medicaid cuts being made by states around the country (Pear, 8/8).
Politico Pro: SCOTUS Medicaid Case Splits Dems
Leading congressional Democrats are bucking the Obama administration's position that Medicaid patients and providers don't have the power to sue states over proposed Medicaid cuts. The Democrats are publicly splitting with the Justice Department in a high-profile Supreme Court case, Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California, filing an amicus brief that sides with the Medicaid patients bringing the suit. Medicaid advocates say the case will determine whether the federal government can enforce Medicaid requirements in the states. Former acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal, who recently left the Justice Department, shocked the health policy world by arguing against Medicaid patients in a May 26 amicus brief (Millman, 8/8).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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