The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to address a hospital's right to higher Medicaid reimbursement as part of an Idaho case, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.
The question surrounding the case is "Do providers have the right to sue a state for not adequately reimbursing them?" according to the report.
The case dates back to 2009, when five nonprofit healthcare providers sued the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare after Idaho froze reimbursement rates in 2006, according to the report. A U.S. district judge later ruled that the state must increase its reimbursement rates, and that ruling was upheld on appeal in 2014, the report reads.
As a result of that initial order for the state to increase reimbursements, Idaho lost $12 million in fiscal year 2013, according to the report.
"While a Supreme Court ruling upholding the lower court decisions would directly impact only providers in the 9th Circuit, it would set a precedent that could be applied elsewhere in the U.S.," the report reads.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the Idaho case next week.
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