State Government Manatee County Among 47 in Medicaid Suit Against State

BRADENTON – On  Thursday, 47 individual counties joined the Florida Association of Counties (FAC) in filing suit against the Florida Department of Revenue and the Agency for Health Care Administration. The suit is in response to new legislation regarding Medicaid billing that would put the county on the hook for $4.4 million in previously paid claims that were not properly filed. It has been called the largest unfunded mandate in the state's history, putting the burden of proving the validity of claims onto counties that are not staffed and resourced to perform such investigations.

The suit argues that Article VII, section 18 of the Florida Constitution was ”designed not to hamstring the State legislature (the ”Legislature“), but to require thoughtful and deliberate action and overwhelming support before the State requires counties to pay for a State mandate. Because such mandates threaten to increase taxes and to remove local dollars from communities, the Unfunded Mandates Provision requires approval by a super-majority vote in each house of the Legislature.“

It also claims that Section 12 of the new Medicaid Billing law violates two sections of the unfunded mandates provision of the Florida Constitution (Article VII, Sections 18 (b) and (a)) and that it is invalid by requiring payment on disputed bills older than the previous law required records to be kept  four years, going on to argue:

”This suit does not challenge whether counties should participate with the State in making its Medicaid payments. That policy decision was made long ago. Rather, counties want to pay their fair and accurate share of the Medicaid bills on behalf of their residents, which they have been prevented from doing because of a State billing system plagued with rampant errors. Counties do not want their tax revenue share automatically raided to pay bills under the new scheme enacted by Section 12. Forty counties representing 73% of the State’s population ask this Court to enforce their state constitution and to require the Legislature to play by the rules before attempting to reduce the amount of tax revenues returned to the people.“

Click here to read the complaint in its entirety.