On October 3, the U.S. Supreme Court will hold a hearing in a case from California that’s about access to care for Medicaid patients. We know many states are under budgetary pressure to cut Medicaid reimbursement to pharmacies and other health care providers. Yet when reimbursement rates are too low, pharmacies are forced out of Medicaid. This reduces patient access to pharmacy and our services.

APhA, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Community Pharmacists Association, and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations filed a friend-of-the-court brief on August 4 with the Supreme Court in the case of Douglas v Independent Living Center of Southern California. We supported the initial lawsuit filed by California pharmacies and other health care providers to challenge a 10% Medicaid reimbursement cut in that state. We argued that states can be sued for actions that may deprive patients of access to medications and pharmacist services. In particular, these proposed cuts violate a federal patient access law. State actions must be consistent with federal laws.

The state of California says that it cannot be sued for Medicaid cuts, and the National Governors Association and the Obama administration are siding with the states. But key Democratic leaders in Congress and former federal health officials have filed separate friend-of-the-court briefs agreeing with us in spite of the administration’s position.

This is an important case. APhA and our colleague pharmacy organizations are watching it closely.