Maine's Supreme Judicial Court in a 6-1 decision ruled that Gov. Paul LePage (R) must comply with a lower court order that he submit a plan to expand Medicaid to CMS, in today’s bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Alabama, Maine, and Texas.
- Alabama: A federal appeals court on Wednesday sustained a lower court's permanent injunction barring Alabama from enforcing a state law that prohibits providers from performing the most common method of abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, called the dilation and evacuation procedure. Chief Judge Ed Carnes of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta in the ruling wrote that the law would impose an "impermissible burden on a woman's ability to choose an abortion" (Stempel, Reuters, 8/22; Anapol, The Hill, 8/22).
- Maine: The state's Supreme Judicial Court in a 6-1 decision issued Thursday ordered Gov. Paul LePage's (R) administration to comply with a lower court's order that he submit to CMS a plan to expand the state's Medicaid program, in accordance with a ballot initiative state residents approved last year. The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the LePage administration's appeal largely on procedural grounds, stating that the appeal was premature because the merits of the lawsuit still are unsettled. Peter Steele, LePage's communications director, said the governor's team is considering its options in light of the ruling (Modern Healthcare, 8/23; Kamp, Wall Street Journal, 8/23).
- Texas: Baylor Scott & White Health on Wednesday announced that it is joining the "Medicaid Transformation Project" as a leading health system. The national project, which involves the participation of over 17 health systems in 21 states, will aim to improve care and reduce costs for Medicaid beneficiaries (Robinson-Jacobs, Dallas News, 8/22).
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