Warning: Undefined array key "HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE" in /home/u596154002/domains/usbusinessreviews.com/public_html/wp-includes/load.php on line 2057

Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the rank-math domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/u596154002/domains/usbusinessreviews.com/public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114
Medicaid enrollees must share lawsuit awards with states, Supreme Court rules - Best Business Review Site 2024

Medicaid enrollees must share lawsuit awards with states, Supreme Court rules

[ad_1]

States can seek reimbursement for future medical expenses from Medicaid beneficiaries’ injury settlements, the Supreme Court decided in a 7-2 opinion issued Monday.

Justice Clarence Thomas penned the majority opinion, which asserts that federal Medicaid law allows states to collect private settlement funds for medical expenses and doesn’t expressly limit that to previously paid bills.

Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined Thomas. Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.

No part of the relevant Medicaid law limits what a state agency can recoup to past payments, according to the majority opinion.

“To the contrary, the grant of ‘any rights…to payment for medical care’ most naturally covers not only rights to payment for past medical expenses, but also rights to payment for future medical expenses,” Thomas wrote.

The plaintiff in the case is the family of a young Florida woman named Giannina Gallardo and the defendant is the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which manages the state’s Medicaid program.

Gallardo has been in a vegetative state since a truck hit her while she exited a school bus in 2008. On her behalf, Gallardo’s parents won an $800,000 settlement after suing the truck’s owner and driver, as well as the school board. More than $35,000 of the settlement was earmarked to the state for medical expenses incurred prior to the settlement.

Florida argued it should receive $300,000 for medical treatments Medicaid covered before and after the settlement, based on a state law that entitles Florida to such funds. Under that statute, the state may claim up to half of a Medicaid beneficiary’s award, after 25% is deducted for legal expenses, to pay for all related medical costs.

A U.S. district judge decided in favor of the Gallardo family, ruling that Medicaid should only be able to recover settlement funds related to medical expenses that predated the settlement award. The Florida Supreme Court also sided with the Gallardos. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit reversed the decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld that judgment.

Even though Medicaid programs generally can’t seek reimbursement through possession of beneficiaries’ property due to an anti-lien policy, enrollees give states their rights to payment for medical care from third parties, including via private settlements.

“The relevant distinction is thus ‘between medical and nonmedical expenses…not between past expenses Medicaid has paid and future expenses it has not,” the Supreme Court opinion says.

Sotomayor and Breyer disagreed that the exception to the Medicaid anti-lien policy includes all medical expenses.

“The court’s holding is inconsistent with the structure of the Medicaid program and will cause needless unfairness and disruption,” Sotomayor wrote in dissent.

If a patient’s financial situation changes and they become able to pay for their medical bills, that person doesn’t have to repay Medicaid for previous expenses, Sotomayor wrote. “Congress may wish to intercede to address any disruption that ensues from today’s decision, but under a proper reading of the [Medicare and Medicaid Act of 1965], such intervention would have been unnecessary.”

[ad_2]

Source link

slot gacor slot gacor togel macau slot hoki bandar togel slot dana slot mahjong link slot link slot777 slot gampang maxwin slot hoki slot mahjong slot maxwin slot mpo slot777 slot toto slot toto situs toto toto slot situs toto situs toto situs toto situs toto slot88 toto slot slot gacor thailand slot bet receh situs toto situs toto slot toto slot situs toto situs toto situs toto situs togel macau toto slot slot demo slot pulsa slot pragmatic situs toto deposit dana 10k surga slot toto slot link situs toto situs toto slot situs toto situs toto slot777 slot gacor situs toto slot slot pulsa 10k toto togel situs toto slot situs toto slot gacor terpercaya slot dana slot gacor pay4d agen sbobet kedai168 kedai168 deposit pulsa situs toto slot pulsa situs toto slot pulsa situs toto situs toto situs toto slot dana toto slot situs toto slot pulsa toto slot situs toto slot pulsa situs toto situs toto situs toto toto slot toto slot slot toto akun pro maxwin situs toto slot gacor maxwin slot gacor maxwin situs toto slot slot depo 10k toto slot toto slot situs toto situs toto toto slot toto slot toto slot toto togel slot toto togel situs toto situs toto toto slot slot gacor slot gacor slot gacor situs toto situs toto cytotec toto slot situs toto situs toto toto slot situs toto situs toto slot gacor maxwin slot gacor maxwin link slot 10k slot gacor maxwin slot gacor slot pulsa situs slot 10k slot 10k toto slot toto slot situs toto situs toto situs toto bandar togel 4d toto slot toto slot