Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wish to alert my colleagues to an important set of cases that will be heard by the Supreme Court this fall. The cases--consolidated under the caption Maxwell-Jolly v. Independent Living Center--concern the ability of Americans to assert their constitutional rights in court. The issue before the Court is important not just to the parties involved but to the effective functioning of our constitutional system. The cases come to the Court out of California. In 2008, the State announced a plan to sharply reduce the reimbursements paid to medical providers under Medi-Cal, the State's Medicaid program. A broad range of parties--including pharmacies, medical clinics, hospitals, doctors, health care providers, senior citizens' groups, and Medicaid beneficiaries--brought suit asking for an injunction to stop the change from going into effect. They are not looking for money, just an order requiring California to follow Federal law. They argued that the California plan violated--and was preempted by-- the Federal Medicaid statute. In particular, they contended that the plan failed to ``assure that payments are consistent with efficiency, economy, and quality of care and are sufficient to enlist enough providers so that care and services are available . . . at least to the extent that such care and services are available to the general population,'' as required by 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1396a(a)(30)(A).…”