Washington, D.C. — Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a ruling to protect over 90 million Americans who receive their health care through Medicaid. Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski, which was described as “one of the most consequential health care cases in [the Supreme Court’s] history,” concerns whether individuals have the right to enforce provisions of the Medicaid law in court. The Court upheld individual’s right to sue, supporting decades of precedent and protecting patients’ access to critical health care coverage. An adverse ruling in this case would have also implicated the rights of beneficiaries across a broad range of state-administered public programs, including Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, child welfare, and federal public housing benefits. In response, Protect Our Care’s Policy and Health Equity Senior Advisor Anne Morris Reid issued the following statement:
“A negative ruling in this case would have been devastating for the tens of millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid for their health coverage – with particularly severe consequences for the pregnant women, children, people of color, people with disabilities and other low-income Americans this program serves. The Supreme Court rejected the defendants’ goal to strip patients of their rights to seek targeted and rapid relief when they lose or are denied health coverage. At a time when Republicans are playing politics with Medicaid as part of their ongoing war on health care, it is a relief that the Court’s decision protected the most powerful tools beneficiaries have to hold state officials or health providers accountable.”