Judge rejects call to block Walker from expanding Medicaid

  • By Becky Bohrer
  • Saturday, August 29, 2015 8:49pm
  • News

JUNEAU — A judge on Friday rejected a request by state lawmakers to temporarily block Gov. Bill Walker from expanding Medicaid in Alaska.

Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner denied the request by the Alaska Legislative Council to bar Walker from implementing Medicaid expansion until the merits of the council’s case challenging Walker’s authority to expand Medicaid on his own are decided.

That means that unless the Alaska Supreme Court is asked to intervene and determines otherwise, Walker can move ahead with his plans to expand Medicaid next week, Pfiffner said.

The Legislative Council filed a petition Friday seeking a review by the Alaska Supreme Court, said Stacey Stone, an attorney representing the council.

In a statement, House Speaker Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski, said the lawmakers who supported the lawsuit “continue to feel very strongly about our constitutional argument that was presented. We are by no means looking for a way to stop Medicaid expansion; we are trying to do it the right way so that we have a reliable, sustainable system.”

Walker announced plans to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid coverage to thousands of lower-income Alaskans after state legislators tabled his expansion legislation for further review earlier this year. Walker has proposed rolling out the expansion on Tuesday.

Pfiffner’s ruling “ensures 20,000 working Alaskans will have access to health care on September 1st,” Walker said in a statement. State-commissioned estimates released earlier this year indicate that nearly 42,000 Alaskans would be eligible for coverage under expanded Medicaid the first year and about 20,000 would enroll.

The council, comprised of House and Senate legislators, voted 10-1 last week to sue Walker over his plans.

The argument in the case centers on whether the expansion population is a mandatory group for coverage under Medicaid or an optional group. The federal health care law expanded eligibility for Medicaid, but the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 said states could not be penalized for not participating in expanding the program.

The lawsuit contends the expansion population is an optional group that cannot be covered unless such coverage is approved by the Legislature. The state Department of Law, representing Walker, argues that U.S. Supreme Court decision did not strike down the provision expanding eligibility but instead struck down the penalty for states that do not comply with it.

Pfiffner said that, at least in his preliminary view, the expansion population meets the language for required coverage.

He said he expected the parties would submit more detailed briefings from which he could make a final decision later on the merits of the case.

Under expansion, Medicaid coverage would be extended to people between the ages of 19 and 64 who are not caring for dependent children, not disabled and not pregnant, and who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The federal government is to pay 100 percent of health-care costs for newly eligible recipients through 2016, stepping down to 90 percent by 2020.

Some legislators have expressed concern with adding more people to a system they consider broken. Administration officials have acknowledged the current Medicaid program isn’t sustainable, but they see expansion as a way to get federal dollars to help finance reform efforts.

Attorneys for the council argued the state could face irreparable fiscal injury if expanded Medicaid takes effect next week. They also said it could create an administrative nightmare if expanded coverage begins and is later determined unlawful.

In a court filing opposing the temporary restraining order, Department of Law attorneys said nothing would change with the scheduled Tuesday rollout of expansion that would harm the Legislative Council.

“All that will happen on that date is that some additional Alaskans will get federally funded health care coverage,” they wrote. If the court later decides that expansion is unlawful, it can halt expansion then and the coverage will stop, they wrote.

“The only ‘harm’ that will have occurred in the interim is that some indigent Alaskans will have received federally funded health care that they would not have otherwise received,” they wrote.

More in News

The deadline for the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend, which comes from the fund managed by the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, is coming up fast, landing on March 31, 2022. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
PFD application deadline is Friday

Today is the deadline for Alaskans to file for their 2022 Alaska… Continue reading

Jonathan Parducho, a pharmacist, removes a tray of vials of of the Jynneos vaccine for monkeypox from a box containing 20 doses, in the vaccine hub at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Friday, July 29, 2022, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Only 5 cases of mpox detected in Alaska

An epidemiology bulletin released by the State Department of Health on Wednesday… Continue reading

Owners Suwannasa Piwon and Phatcharin Apaipak sit for a photo at the new location of their Siam Noodles and Food in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo provided by Siam Noodles and Food)
Siam Noodles and Food to hold Grand Opening of new location

Siam Noodles and Food will open in its new location next weekend,… Continue reading

Signs direct visitors at Seward City Hall on Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021 in Seward, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward mulls sale of electric utility to HEA

Voters will get the final say during a special election on May 2

A spectator throws a ball lost in the snow back down to Bridger Beck during a soccer game at Ed Hollier Field in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Clear it, and they will come

Photos by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion Above, a spectator passes a ball back… Continue reading

The 11th Annual Alaskans Choose Respect Awareness Event proceeds down Frontage Road in Kenai, Alaska on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaskans Choose Respect returns, LeeShore Center focuses on prevention

Nearly 40 people gathered and walked together down Frontage Road from Leif… Continue reading

Alaska Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Pierce speaks at a campaign event at Paradisos restaurant in Kenai on Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough assembly to discuss Pierce harassment lawsuit

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly will meet Tuesday in executive session to… Continue reading

The Kenai Peninsula Borough administration building is seen on Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Borough looks to mitigate flooding around Big Eddy Road

The Kenai Peninsula Borough wants to better mitigate flooding around Big Eddy… Continue reading

The Homer Spit is evacuated during the July 28 tsunami warning at about 10:50 p.m. (Photo by Sarah Knapp/Homer News)
Tsunami warning test scheduled for Wednesday morning

The National Weather Service will conduct a statewide test of the tsunami… Continue reading

Most Read