Fla. Can't Reclaim Medicaid Payments On Immigrant Care

Law360 ^

[Brilliant]

A Florida appeals court on Wednesday reaffirmed a previous decision that the state Agency for Health Care Administration cannot claw back asserted overpayments of Medicaid funds hospitals received for emergency services provided to eligible unauthorized immigrants...

The current lawsuit, filed by North Broward Hospital District, arose from AHCA's Undocumented Alien Project, in which it audited all inpatient hospital claims for emergency services that were provided to unauthorized individuals in the state between July 2005 and June 2010. The review was started in response to a federal audit that found Florida was claiming federal funding for services that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid said were beyond what federal regulations defined to be an emergency.

While limited to services provided to unauthorized immigrants, the issue hinged on how Florida was determining what qualified as emergency services. Federal law prohibits a state to receive federal funds through Medicaid for medical assistance provided to immigrants not in the country legally, but it allows for such reimbursement for services that are necessary to treat an emergency medical condition...

The hospitals were grateful for the appellate court's decision, said the hospitals' attorney Alvin Lodish, noting that millions of dollars in potential reimbursements were on the line...

[Brilliant]

No surprise that the taxpayer is paying for medical care for illegal immigrants.

[ptsal]

Bingo

[Larry Lucido]

eligible unauthorized immigrants

Twisting the English language ever more.

[Rockingham]

Considering that Florida has had only Republican governors and legislatures for decades, one has to wonder just how and when the state government decided to be so illegally generous to illegal immigrants.

[packrat35]

eligible unauthorized

These 2 words don’t belong together.

[ViLaLuz]

Like “life-saving abortion care.”