Azar

I. Background

A. Medicaid’s Anti-Reassignment Provision Medicaid is a program through which the federal government helps the states ensure that low-income and disabled residents can access health care services. The program is incredibly complicated. How it operates depends on the state, and on the particular services provided. But at the highest level of generality, the federal government and the states work together to ensure that health care providers receive payment for services offered to low-income and disabled patients who qualify for Medicaid assistance. In the typical example, a doctor will provide care to a Medicaid patient and then submit a claim for reimbursement to the state. The state will make the payment so long as the provision of services was consistent with its Medicaid plan. The Medicaid plan is crafted by the state, but must be submitted to the federal government for approval. If the federal government determines that the state plan complies with certain requirements, the federal government approves the plan and makes a major financial contribution to help the state implement it. The federal government also conducts oversight. The federal entity that…