Prepared by Jane Perkins
November 2011 update
Medicaid recipients and applicants may be harmed when state Medicaid officials do not comply with the requirements of the Medicaid Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396-1396v. These individuals may file suit in court to obtain injunctive relief. Traditionally, Medicaid recipients have enforced the provisions of the Medicaid Act pursuant to a civil rights statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (“§ 1983”).1 More recently and as discussed below, the ability to use § 1983 to enforce Medicaid provisions has been narrowed, and some plaintiffs have turned to long-standing constitutional precedents allowing them to obtain relief by enforcing the Supremacy Clause.2 In Douglas v. Independent Living Center of Southern California, the Supreme Court is considering whether individuals and providers may enforce the Supremacy Clause to enjoin a state law that violates a federal Medicaid provision that requires states to establish adequate provider payments. Read the entire issue brief here.
