In 1970, Congress enacted Title X of the Public Health Service Act (the Act), which provided federal funding for family planning services. Section 1008 of the Act prohibited the use of Title X federal funding “for programs where abortion [was] a method of family planning.” The Regulations to the Act (the Regulations), introduced by the …Read more

In response to increasing projected state Medicaid costs, the directors of the Tennessee Medicaid program decided to implement a number of cost saving measures. Among these measures was a proposed reduction in the number of annual days of inpatient hospital care covered by the program from 20 to 14 days per fiscal year. Respondents, Tennessee …Read more

The Respondents brought this suit challenging the constitutional validity of § 1903(f) of the Social Security Act (the Act); they claimed it violated the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment. Under the Medicaid program, States were required to provide Medicaid coverage to certain individuals described as the “categorically needy” and, at their discretion, could …Read more

The Respondent, McRae, a Medicaid recipient seeking an abortion, brought a class action suit challenging the constitutional validity of the ‘Hyde Amendment’, which prohibited federal reimbursement under the Medicaid system for some abortions which were medically necessary. As established by an amendment to Title XIX of the Social Security Act in 1965, the Medicaid system …Read more

This case was an appeal by the State of Colorado (“Colorado”) and Colorado prison officials, challenging an order from the Colorado Federal District Court directing the State of Colorado to close the maximum security unit of the Colorado State Penitentiary at Canon City (“Old Max”). Inmate Fidel Ramos filed a complaint alleging that the conditions …Read more

Title XIX of the Social Security Act establishes the Medicaid program under which participating States may provide federally funded medical assistance to needy persons. Title XIX requires that state Medicaid plans establish “reasonable standards . . . for determining . . . the extent of medical assistance under the plan which . . . are …Read more

The appellants, Henry Evaro and Memorial Hospital, brought an action against Maricopa County challenging the constitutionality of a provision in an Arizona statute requiring 12 months residence in a county before medical care is provided to an indigent person in non-emergency situations. Evaro, an indigent person, suffered from chronic asthma and bronchial illness. In June …Read more

Plaintiffs, the guardians of patients confined at Bryce Hospital, Alabama (the Hospital) and certain employees of the Alabama Mental Health Board assigned to the Hospital, requested an order of reference for an authoritative determination of standards of the adequacy of the current and future mental treatment employed by the Hospital in effecting the right to …Read more