•  
  •  
 

Abstract

This Article will explore the power struggle that Medicaid invites and its potential elevation due to the pressures that will follow the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) expansion. Part I of this Article will describe the three phases of private enforcement litigation and how they have affected Medicaid reimbursement rates. This Part also will highlight the deceptive stability that has taken root in the lower federal courts by describing the recent state attempts to end private enforcement actions. The first Part will conclude by briefly considering the nature of the federalism arguments that states are making. Part II will explain why lawmakers missed an important opportunity to add an explicit right of action to the Medicaid Act when drafting the ACA, while at the same time they created a law that will increase the need for federal oversight. The second Part will then explore how the ACA contributes to the Medicaid power struggle. The Article concludes that private actions in federal court provide indispensable balance as well as a much needed de facto oversight mechanism for the already overextended, underfunded Department of Health and Human Services.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.