Can private parties sue to enforce a federal statute when Congress does not say so? That’s what the Supreme Court is deciding in a case heard on the opening day of its current term. The court’s first case this term involves Medicaid. The justices considered if Medicaid recipients can sue when a state cuts Medicaid payments, or instead if that is a matter left to federal and state governments to sort out.

The case is actually three consolidated cases from various Medicaid recipients in California, named Douglas v. Independent Living Center. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in favor of the plaintiffs in all three. The Supreme Court is deciding whether federal district and appeals courts even have jurisdiction to hear these cases.