Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

This country desperately needs a functioning Fourth Estate.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

I really should read my own blog.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

It’s a doggy dog world.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

You are here: Home / Anderson On Health Insurance / Good news from SCOTUS

Good news from SCOTUS

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Today was actually a good day for liberals at the Supreme Court.

The biggest news is that the Court did not gut the Voting Rights Act in a case that was being brought by the State of Alabama. The big health policy news is that individuals who are on Medicaid do have a general private cause of action to sue when they are getting screwed by a clinical provider that is not following Medicaid rules:

I AM SO NOT A LAWYER !!!!

But it is not unusual for Medicaid beneficiaries to receive services that don’t meet Medicaid guidelines or requirements or to not receive services that they are legally entitled to. It has been very common for these beneficiaries to sue on their own behalf to force the provision of appropriate services. A nursing home (remember, Medicaid pays for a substantial portion of all nursing home days) failed to provide appropriate care. They got sued. The nursing home argued that there was not an express authorization for Medicaid beneficiaries to sue for services in the law that regulates Medicaid paid nursing home care. The nursing home argued that the only penalty was a spending clause clawback and not a behavior change.

The Supreme Court said NOPE! There is a private right to sue for appropriate service provision.

Reader Interactions

80Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    Congratulations to the lawyers involved.

    This is why you fight every battle, even when the deck is stacked against you.

  2. 2.

    Baud

    OT. Take this with lots of grains of salt.

    GOP’s booming support for guns is turning off millennial, Gen Z Republicans

    About a quarter of young Republicans in one poll said they strongly or somewhat supported an assault weapons ban.

  4. 4.

    Anonymous At Work

    Nursing home lawsuits are fraught as is, but this will be helpful.  I doubt the patient sued the nursing home but the majority interest controlling the holding company that served as the sole stockholder for the outside consulting firm that also managed key operations at the nursing home facility.  (Technically speaking, there’s like 10 people involved, in a thousand companies, all shells, to avoid liability.)

  5. 5.

    Alison Rose

    Thomas and Alito dissented in the Medicaid case. I swear to God, there could be a case about whether or not puppies are cute, and these fuckwagons would be like WELL ACTUALLY.

    Was pleasantly surprised to see that Kavanaugh joined the majority in the voting rights case, though if memory serves, he has actually ruled well in a couple other cases of this type. I suppose in his case the stopped clock is right twice a year instead of twice a day, but hey…

  6. 6.

    RaflW

    It seems CJ Roberts has been noticing that the usual esteem with which the public holds the Court has in fact been eroding (plummeting?). I’m a tad surprised that he managed to drag Kavanaugh along, though, on the VR case.

    Whatever. This will be a fairly big deal for AL. Apparently it may impact several other recalcitrant/racist southern states. Good!

  7. 7.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Alison Rose: I swear to God, there could be a case about whether or not puppies are cute, and these fuckwagons would be like WELL ACTUALLY.

    You are too generous.

  10. 10.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @RaflW: It will definitely affect MS (there is a case on hold there waiting on the result of this case) and probably TX.  Could be around five or so new AA majority districts as a result of this.

  11. 11.

    Barbara

    @Baud: I started to read that article, and felt like saying to whoever the baby Republican was who was wringing his hands about this, “why bother banging your head against a wall when you could, you know, just vote for the Democrat.”  So maybe he won’t do that, since he is evidently already part of the party’s infrastructure but I hope others increasingly will.

  12. 12.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Alison Rose: Saying they would “Well actually” a puppy case is too generous.  I would guess they would dissent and say puppies should be kicked if not simply poisoned.

  13. 13.

    Alison Rose

    @Alison Rose: One case I was thinking of was about racial bias in jury selection, where SCOTUS ruled that a prosecutor in Mississippi had tried to whitewash the jury in a murder case against a Black man. Kavanaugh wrote the opinion, and I loved how John Oliver put it: “You know you’re doing something wrong when it’s so flagrant, even Brett Kavanaugh has a problem with it, a man who’s done exactly two good things in his life: This decision, and making it acceptable to spend your entire job interview screaming and crying.”

    I guess now he’s done three good things. He still sucks though.

  16. 16.

    Ohio Mom

    @Anonymous At Work: My first thought was, It must be extremely difficult to sue a nursing home and win, that’s why the SC felt comfortable ruling this way. IANAL but i think your comment supports my cynicism.

    We are driving to (actually, Ohio Dad is behind the wheel) and I am getting a little woozy, trying to read my phone as this little Kia bounces along the interstate. I will be back much later this afternoon when I am back home and the floor beneath me is no vibrating.

  17. 17.

    Ken

    @Omnes Omnibus: How about Florida?

    I may be mis-remembering, due to my DeSantis Derangement Syndrome, but I thought the state had come up with their redistricting map, a court had said it was illegal, and the state just ignored them and used the map.

  18. 18.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Ken: I am not sure.  MS LA and TX were ones I knew off the top of my head.

    ETA: I confused LA and MS. I am a northerner. It happens.

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    Maybe good news, in time, for North Carolina too?  That state legislature is out of control.  (As David well knows.)

  20. 20.

    OverTwistWillie

    @oatler:

    Outlived his epoch.

    Disney never did pony up to clear the 700 Club off the Family Channel. He wanted big bucks and they were like… no. His heirs will settle for chicken feed.

    Loomis over at LGM can often be unapologetically and spectacularly wrong, but his eulogy is -chef’s kiss-

  22. 22.

    eversor

    @Alison Rose:

    I like BEER! is a political hack first and foremost.  Part of that is not trying to turn over the turnip truck for Theocracy NOW and destroy the institutions you need for your party.

    It’s probably only a matter of time before Beer! like Roberts is being complained about for not being conservative enough.

  24. 24.

    New Deal democrat

    I wouldn’t dance a jig just yet. The decision was 5-4, with Kavanaugh only joining the majority in part.

     

    And this is from CNN’s synopsis:
    “Roberts wrote Thursday that Section 2 ‘may impermissibly elevate race in the allocation of political power within the States is, of course, not new,” but he said the opinion “does not diminish or disregard these concerns’he said.
    “‘It simply holds that a faithful application of our precedents and a fair reading of the record before us do not bear them out here,” Roberts said. Alabama’s argument “runs headlong into our precedent.’l

    in other words, if a State develops the correct record, Roberts is still ready to strike down Section 2. And striking down Section 2 pretty much writes the 15th Amendment out of the Constitution, since only explicit and stated targeted discrimination against race would be the only thing forbidden.

  26. 26.

    Mike E

    @Elizabelle: the only good news for NC would be the Court rejecting the pending redistricting maps and keeping the current ones in place… we’re 7-7 at the moment but it can easily be 10-4 repub in ’24 if they have their way

  28. 28.

    rikyrah

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It will definitely affect MS (there is a case on hold there waiting on the result of this case) and probably TX.  Could be around five or so new AA majority districts as a result of this.

     

    Florida too?

  30. 30.

    Jackie

    In other SC news, they pooped all over the poop dog toy:

    “The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of Jack Daniel’s in a trademark fight over “poop-themed” dog toys that resemble the company’s famous whiskey bottles.”

    “The justices on a 9-0 vote ruled against VIP Products LLC, which argued that its products — including the “Bad Spaniels” toy shaped like a whiskey bottle — are obvious parodies and should therefore be protected as free speech under the First Amendment.”

    “In a narrow ruling, the court returned the dispute to lower courts for further proceedings.”

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rules-jack-daniels-poop-themed-dog-toy-trademark-fight-rcna86030

    I was rooting for the puppy 🐶

  33. 33.

    Soprano2

    @RaflW: Seems that it could impact Florida, where DeSantis deliberately drew districts that made two black Democratic seats white Republican seats instead with an extreme gerrymander. When I saw the decision on this case I said “What, how did that happen!”.

  35. 35.

    JML

    @MazeDancer: Meh. Roberts is an asshole who likes to be writing in the majority so he can try and steer the opinion. Never think for a moment he’s on the side of anyone other than rich right-wing scumbags. A win like this is good, but he’s almost guaranteed to flip the other way on the next case to ensure there’s no trend of black people winning voting rights cases.

  37. 37.

    Citizen Alan

    @zhena gogolia: To me, the importance of Campbell v Acuff-Rose was always overstated. As a practical matter, it meant that parodies were protected if the parodist had the backing of a large corporation, because defending against a copyright lawsuit with a parody defense is prohibitively expensive for, say, some private individual putting up a parody Youtube video or selling a parody Tshirt on Etsy.

  40. 40.

    Jay C

    @JML:

    Yeah: when I read about the decision in the Alabama districting case, my first (thoroughly cynical) take on it was that Roberts was right about it being “unprecedented” – and that his reasoning is that if anyone is going to gut basic voting rights in the service of antidemocratic racism, it ought to be SCOTUS, and not some local politicos….

  42. 42.

    rikyrah

    Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) tweeted at 1:15 PM on Tue, Jun 06, 2023:
    This is really something. The Biden administration just announced new numbers showing border encounters continue to be *down* after Title 42.

    So what are Marjorie Taylor Greene and Republicans doing in response?

    Moving to impeach DHS sec Mayorkas. 1/

    Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) tweeted at 1:25 PM on Tue, Jun 06, 2023:
    Marjorie Taylor Greene and Republicans were salivating at the prospect of a post-Title 42 migrant surge. Now that it hasn’t happened, they’re simply pretending it has. Indeed, a GOP hearing set for this week suggests they’re likely to impeach Mayorkas. 2/

    https://t.co/YMR8gJungo https://t.co/7F0AZFevDf
    (https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/1666149227750195200?t=ButCkZ1pomSKUx_hiuIupA&s=03)

  43. 43.

    David Anderson

    @Mike E: So not a lawyer, but given the current SCOTUS, I think this restricts the NC Leg from redistricting from 6-7-1 (1 truly swingish seat SE of Raleigh that is currently a Dem Congresscritter) to “only 4-10” or 5-9 all safe instead of the GOP dream of 3-11

  45. 45.

    Mike E

    @David Anderson: Of course, the notorious “ticket splitting” voters of NC could buck trends and salvage a district or two for the Dems, just because they can…the current party chairperson Anderson Clayton is 25 years old, looking to successes in WI, MI and MN to formulate a winning strategy here and I say more power to her!

  46. 46.

    Jay C

    @rikyrah:

    On a more-serious level, what, do we think, are the chances of:

    Any impeachment resolution coming out of Committee.
     A bill of impeachment actually reaching the House floor.
     Said bill being approved by the House as a whole.
     The Senate actually voting to convict/remove Mayorkas.  ?

    AFAICT, this is all just more performative Outrage Theater for the hooples: and if it ever gets beyond no 1, I’d be surprised.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    FWIW, via reddit. Article is a month old.

    Even die-hard Republicans are getting fed up with a new conservative school board in Colorado as teachers quit in droves

  50. 50.

    Jay

    Fox News on Wednesday notified Tucker Carlson’s legal team that the former prime-time host violated his contract with the network when he launched his own Twitter show on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing a copy of a letter obtained by the news website.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    They’re certainly reacting. Looks like he hit a nerve- good for him.

    I would hate them if i were him- they killed his mother and they were all set to do the same to his wife.

  53. 53.

    trollhattan

    @Jackie: Reminds me a bit of when Harley Davidson once tried to copyright (or was it patent?) the exhaust sound of a Harley Davidson. “Uh, no” was the decision. Self-parody was never so delicious.

  54. 54.

    Percysowner

    @RaflW: ​
     I don’t know “Look, they know we are taking bribes, we have to lay low for a while, then the money can come rolling in again” is a pretty strong argument.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    @trollhattan:

    Reminds me a bit of when Harley Davidson once tried to copyright (or was it patent?) the exhaust sound of a Harley Davidson

     

    “You farted. Pay me.”

  57. 57.

    Kay

    Steven Mazie
    @stevenmazie

    A word on this HUGE SURPRISE 5-4 (not 6-3) decision: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson may have been the difference. She came to the oral argument with a v forceful defense of the Reconstruction Amendments as anything but race-blind & critiqued abandoning decades of VRA precedent.

  59. 59.

    Jackie

    @Old School: The trivia one learns on this here blog! From the linked article:

    *Origin of “Hog” Nickname

    “Beginning in 1920, a team of farm boys, who became known as the “hog boys,” consistently won races for the Harley Davidson factory racing team. The group had a hog, or pig as their mascot. Following a win, they would put the pig (a real one) on the back of their Harley and take a victory lap. The bikes were nicknamed “hogs” as a result.”

  60. 60.

    Jackie

    @Baud: I don’t believe so – I was wondering, too. I hope his chemo treatments are going well 🤞🏻🤞🏻

  65. 65.

    scav

    @Alison Rose: Anyone so lacking a heart & humanity is clearly an it, so they will have earned their pronoun. No doubt it will whine, but that is what it always does.

  67. 67.

    MisterDancer

    @Kay: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson may have been the difference. She came to the oral argument with a v forceful defense of the Reconstruction Amendments as anything but race-blind & critiqued abandoning decades of VRA precedent.

    Thanks for that Tweet– I remember that well, and there was a lot of reporting on what Justice Jackson brought to oral at the time (see here and here for examples).

    It makes a lot of sense that a lot of the Original Intent-spouting fools on that court got pulled up on with the Justice’s deep and well-documented approach.

  69. 69.

    New Deal democrat

    Asha Rappanga points out the consequences of the Court’s prior behavior in this case:

    https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1666819385275867142
    “Today’s SCOTUS opinion in the AL redistricting case illustrates consequences of what
    @steve_vladeck
    calls the “shadow docket.” Ct upheld lower court, which itself applied clear precedent…but it STAYED the lower court pending decision, allowing illegal map to be used in 2022!”

    And as Steve Vladeck points out:

    “If you assume that additional majority-minority districts in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, & 1–2 other states would’ve been safe Democratic seats, then today’s #SCOTUS ruling strongly suggests that the Court’s 2022 shadow docket stays wrongly gave Republicans control of the House.”

  70. 70.

    Miss Bianca

    @Alison Rose: He was on the side of the angels when it came to the Clean Water Act ruling as well, if not exactly part of the liberal team angels.

  72. 72.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Kay: So feebly croaking “I Dissent” while wearing a weird collar may not have been as valuable as previously thought.

    It is something to keep in mind.

  74. 74.

    Alison Rose

    This will probably go nowhere, but I appreciate him doing what he can to keep this at the forefront:

    Governor Newsom Proposes Historic 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to End America’s Gun Violence Crisis

    SACRAMENTO – Today Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to enshrine fundamental, broadly supported gun safety measures into law. While leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition, the Governor’s proposal guarantees common sense constitutional protections and gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, independent voters, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – including universal background checks, raising the firearm purchase age to 21, instituting a firearm purchase waiting period, and barring the civilian purchase of assault weapons.

    “Our ability to make a more perfect union is literally written into the Constitution,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. “So today, I’m proposing the 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution to do just that. The 28th Amendment will enshrine in the Constitution common sense gun safety measures that Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and gun owners overwhelmingly support – while leaving the 2nd Amendment unchanged and respecting America’s gun-owning tradition.”

    The 28th Amendment will permanently enshrine four broadly supported gun safety principles into the U.S. Constitution:

    • Raising the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21;
    • Mandating universal background checks to prevent truly dangerous people from purchasing a gun that could be used in a crime;
    • Instituting a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases; and
    • Barring civilian purchase of assault weapons that serve no other purpose than to kill as many people as possible in a short amount of time – weapons of war our nation’s founders never foresaw.

    Additionally, the 28th Amendment will affirm Congress, states, and local governments can enact additional common-sense gun safety regulations that save lives.

  76. 76.

    rikyrah

    The ramifications are not just for Alabama. There were also cases in Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina.
    If all are redrawn to decent representation for the Black populations of these states.
    That’s the House, once New York and Wisconsin get redrawn.

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    @Jay:

    Fox News on Wednesday notified Tucker Carlson’s legal team that the former prime-time host violated his contract with the network when he launched his own Twitter show on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing a copy of a letter obtained by the news website.

     

    tee hee hee

  79. 79.

    Geminid

    @rikyrah: A similar VRA lawsuit in Virginia resulted in a redrawn 4th Congressional District. The old 4th was held by a Republican, but the late Dan McEachin won the new district in 2016 as a Democrat. Rep. Jennifer McClellan holds it now.

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