Opinion ID: 2275350
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Respondent's Scheme of Design and Implementation Fees

Text: For an appreciation of what McLaughlin offered to his clients who wanted to qualify for Medicaid nursing care benefits, it is necessary to understand the requirements that an applicant must satisfy to be eligible for such benefits. Judge Eldridge for the Court, in Jackson v. Millstone, 369 Md. 575, 580-82, 801 A.2d 1034, 1036-38 (2002) (footnotes omitted), described the framework of Maryland's medical assistance plan: Congress enacted the Medicaid Act in 1965 as Title XIX of the Social Security Act. See 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq.; 42 C.F.R. §§ 430-456. The Act was designed to enable states, as far as practicable, to furnish medical assistance to individuals whose income and resources are insufficient to meet the costs of necessary medical services. To that end, the Act established a medical assistance program, which is a jointly funded collaboration between the states and the federal government. It is a voluntary program, in which a state may elect, but is not compelled, to participate. When a state elects to participate in the medicaid program, it prepares and submits for approval by the federal Health Care Financing Administration, the federal agency that administers the Federal Medical Assistance Program, a state medicaid plan for the provision of medical assistance that complies with the federal Medicaid Act and with the regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. See 42 U.S.C. § 1396a (a); 42 C.F.R. §§§ 430-456. If the federal agency approves the state plan, then the state qualifies for federal funding, whereby the federal government will reimburse the state up to 50% of the cost of the medicaid program. See, 42 U.S.C. § 1396b(a); 42 U.S.C. § 1396d(b).