15 US states to sue HHS over Medicare

Permission to file a law suit against the US Department of Health and Human Services in the US Supreme Court has been requested by a total of 15 states, which allege they are being forced by the federal government to fund the Medicare drug benefit program in violation of the US Constitution. States have to pay the federal government up to 90% of the estimated amount they would have spent on Medicare coverage for residents.

Saying the new Medicare drug benefit could cost Texas taxpayers $100.0 million over the next four years, state Attorney General Greg Abbott, the lead attorney in the case, has filed a complaint which claims that the federal government has usurped state authority and violated the Constitution by mandating direct payments to fund the new drug program, which went into effect in January (Marketletters passim).

"This so-called Medicare 'clawback' formula, whereby states are called on to fund a benefit offered by the federal government, will have some states like Texas wallowing in red ink for several years," AG Abbott warned.