States Take Clawback Complaint to the U.S. Supreme Court
On Friday, March 3, 2006, five states filed a U.S. Supreme Court complaint regarding thephased-down state contribution or "clawback" payments established in the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). Phased-down state contribution payment refers to the states' monthly payment made to the Federal government beginning in 2006 to defray a portion of the Medicare drug expenditures for full-benefit dual eligible individuals whose Medicaid drug coverage is assumed by Medicare Part D. The monthly state contributions for each year, beginning in January of 2006, will be the product of the projected monthly per capita drug payment, the total number of full-benefit dual eligible individuals for the state in the applicable month, and the applicable ten year phased- down factor for the year (see the following table). State contributions will decline each year until 2015, at which time the applicable 10 year phased-down factor for each year will be fixed at 75 percent.
The states (Texas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, and New Jersey) assert in the complaint the the payments violate state sovereignty. The following states have filed an amicus brief (Arizona, Alaska, Connecticut, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Vermont). The complaint, the amicus brief and press releases from the attorneys general are linked below for your information.
Individual State Comments
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