Opinion ID: 2101834
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Applicable Federal and State Medicaid Law

Text: Our analysis first necessitates an overview of the intricate interrelationship between the relevant federal statutes and state provisions governing Medicaid. [2] In 1965, the United States Congress amended the Social Security Act by adding Grants to States for Medical Assistance Programs, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq. (Supp. 1965-68) as a cooperative program between the federal government and states to provide medical assistance to individuals who were receiving benefits under any one of four welfare programs established elsewhere in the Social Security Act. In 1972, Congress restructured Medicaid by replacing three of these four programs with a new federal program entitled Supplemental Security Income for the Aged, Blind, and Disabled (SSI), 42 U.S.C. § 1381 et seq. (Supp. 1974). For many states, SSI greatly increased the number of potentially eligible Medicaid recipients. Congress, concerned that some states might discontinue participation in Medicaid if required to bear the increased costs of providing benefits to everyone eligible for SSI, offered states the option of providing Medicaid assistance only to those individuals who would have been eligible under the state's Medicaid plan in effect on January 1, 1972. 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(f) (Supp. 1974) (commonly known as the Section 209(b) option [3] ). Under Section 209(b) a state could retain its 1972 Medicaid eligibility requirements but could not implement requirements more restrictive than its 1972 provisions or more liberal than the SSI requirements. [4] Indiana elected to continue participation in Medicaid under Section 209(b). Ind. Code § 12-15-2-6.