Healthcare providers can’t sue states for keeping Medicaid reimbursements low, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
In a split 5-4 decision, the justices said five private companies serving Idaho Medicaid patients can’t ask courts to force the state to pay them higher reimbursements.
The case Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center was brought by five private companies providing Medicaid patients with in-home healthcare and other services. The firms said Idaho unfairly kept reimbursement rates at 2006 levels, even though care continued to grow more expensive.
In response, Idaho, backed by 27 other states and the Obama administration, said being forced to pay higher rates would be a burden on its budget. The state argued it’s up to the federal government and not courts to decide whether states are obeying the Medicaid rules.
The court agreed in a majority decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia. “Their relief must be sought initially through the secretary rather than through the courts,” he wrote. Justices Sonya Sotomayor, Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan dissented.
The ruling overturns a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
