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Recent court developments may substantially increase the burdens on states in administering joint federalstate programs, such as Medicaid, and restrict states' ability to modify such programs in response to changing conditions or policy considerations.
In a series of cases, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has greatly expanded the circumstances under which private parties can sue ? and obtain court injunctions ? to enforce their own notions of what federal statutes require of states. While the 9th Circuit's decisions are only binding in the nine states within its purview (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai'i, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington), its decisions have spawned a wave of copycat lawsuits around the country. Whether these litigants can indeed sue the state is now before the U.S. Supreme Court in two pending petitions for certiorari.
Enforcement of Medicaid And Other Statutes
Congress enacts many of the federalstate programs through which benefits are provided ? such as Medicaid, the Child Welfare Act, the Food Stamp program ? pursuant to the Spending Clause powers set forth in Article I, section 8, clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution. Such programs are in the nature of a contract: the federal government provides money to states in exchange for states' agreements to comply with federal requirements for how the program shall be run. To ensure that states live up to their side of the bargain, a federal agency, such as the Department of Health and Human Services, typically is charged with oversight responsibility, and the power to withhold federal funds if it finds that a state does not comply with federal requirements.
Given the contractual nature...