Baass

I. BACKGROUND

A. Statutory and Regulatory Framework Medicaid is a cooperative federal-state program under which the federal government and participating state governments share the costs of providing health care services to qualified low-income persons. (County of Colusa v. Douglas (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 1123, 1126; 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.) “States are not required to participate in Medicaid, but all of them do.” (Arkansas Dept. of Health and Human Servs. v. Ahlborn (2006) 547 U.S. 268, 275.) “Medicaid is jointly financed by the federal and state governments and is administered by state governments through state ‘plans,’ which are approved by the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services.” (B.K. ex rel. Tinsley v. Snyder (9th Cir. 2019) 922 F.3d 957, 963; see also 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(b); California Hospital Assn. v. Maxwell-Jolly (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 559, 564 [“Although state participation is voluntary, if a state chooses to participate, it must prepare and submit a plan for approval to the federal government, describing its Medicaid program”].) State plans must establish payment rates for the various services provided under the plan. (42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(30);…