Politico interviewed Manatt's Deborah Bachrach, a partner in the firm's Healthcare practice, for an article on Florida's decision to file a lawsuit against the federal government for threatening to withhold more than $1 billion in funding for hospitals if the state fails to expand Medicaid. Florida has insisted that the federal government continue to give about $1.3 billion for a safety-net hospital program called the Low-Income Pool, which will run out of funding on June 30.
Bachrach said she doesn't think the situation in Florida is coercion. The arrangement through which the state receives LIP is discretionary, and there's no obligation for the Department of Health and Human Services to renew it.
"Whatever the practical ramifications are, legally, I think the [HHS] secretary has the discretion to change the conditions under which the pool is granted or reduce the value of the pool," Bachrach said. Federal officials have very clearly stated that they believe providing coverage to individuals is a better mechanism than providing money directly to hospitals, she added.
Read the article here.