SCOTUS Update – Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, Inc.

On March 31, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Armstrong v. Exceptional Child Center, Inc. The Court handed down a hodgepodge of opinions but, in the end, five Justices concurred in the judgment that the Constitution's Supremacy Clause does not confer a private right of action, and that Medicaid providers, therefore, cannot sue for an injunction requiring compliance with the reimbursement laws.  This ruling will adversely affect at least those health care companies that have contemplated suing on the basis that the reimbursement they are getting is less than what the law entitles them to.